


holding on to hope (and loosing grip)

by orphan_account



Series: The Firebender from Aerilon [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Big Brother Sokka (Avatar), Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fire Nation (Avatar), Friends to Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Katara & OFC friendship, OFC firebender, Sokka is a big brother even if hes younger, lots of female friendships and powerful women, rated for minor violence and language, self insert that isnt a self insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 52,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24750334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: What if the Gaang met a firebender to teach Aang long before Zuko joined them?Saiya's life has already been thrown out of balance once, with the death of her father, banishment of her family, and drafting of her brother, she tried to find stability. That is, until helping the Avatar once throws her in for the long haul with him and his friends. Finding her footing with her new friend is hard enough, and the fact that her childhood best friend reappears and is now obsessed with capturing the Avatar doesn't help.(Firebender OC insert with a friends to enemies to lovers story with Zuko)
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka & OFC (platonic), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar)/OC, Zuko (Avatar)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Firebender from Aerilon [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1821355
Comments: 19
Kudos: 103





	1. The Firebender from Aerilon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Needing supplies before they can travel back into the Earth Kingdom, the gang stops by a small village on one of the Fire Nation islands that Aang remembers visiting when he was younger. On edge and ready to be attacked at any moment, Katara, Sokka, and Aang are in for a surprise when they meet two Fire Nation civilians who are more than kind to them.

“I vote we just scavenge for food once we reach the Earth Kingdom,” Sokka argued, “I don’t want to be in the Fire Nation for longer than I have to!” Momo chattered next to him as if in agreement.

“Sokka, none of us want to be in the fire nation but we won’t make the trip across Mo Ce Sea with the supplies we have now!” Katara shot back, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as they continued towards a small village on the edge of the fire nation. Aang remembered traveling to Aerilon when he was younger. It was relatively close to Crescent Moon Island but they couldn’t fly very high or fast without drawing attention, so low and slow it was.

“Don’t worry Sokka! I went there all the time when I was learning about the four nations,” Aang chimed in cheerily, “It’s relatively small, and far away from the mainland, I don’t think there’s going to be lots of Fire Nation soldiers.”

“A lot can change in one hundred years, Aang,” Sokka reminded, “If I catch even a whiff of evil we are leaving!” He declared before turning to look out into the sea. “Oh, hey, is that it?” He questioned suddenly, pointing out in the distance to a foggy shoreline.

“I think so!” Aang cheered, steering Appa in the direction of the town.

“So how do we plan on doing this? There isn’t exactly Sky Bison daycare, plus we stick out like a sore thumb…” Katara wondered.

“Don’t worry, Katara, we won’t be long so we can just leave Appa by the shoreline over there,” Aang pointed to an empty-looking beach, “and we can wear our disguises from Omashu!” Aang drifted Appa to the shoreline and hopped off, putting the poorly made fur hat on his head as Katara and Sokka took off their heavy overcoats.

“I’ll never understand how people can live in the Fire Nation,” Sokka grumbled, “not only is it evil, but the air is so sticky! How can you be so evil that even your air is bad!?”

“Look Sokka, I don’t think everyone here is Fire Nation!” Katara whispered as she pointed to the quiet street market where they could see people wearing Earth Kingdom garments.

“Why would the Earth Kingdom be here? I thought that blockade kept all trade between the nations separated?” Aang mused

“I guess not, this is a pretty small village from the looks of it,” Katara mused, “maybe they aren’t under such harsh control here as other Fire Nation territories.”

“Well Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, I don’t care. We’ve got some money and we need supplies.” Sokka stated simply, “We need to stick together and keep an eye for an exit if things get hairy. We just need some food and clothes and then we can be on our way.”

The trio tracked up the small beach before discreetly slipping into the small crowd on the street. While it wasn’t busy by any means, it was a small town so even a small crowd can take up a lot of space. They looked around a while before coming into the more residential area where a small shop was selling clothes, sewing kits, and fabrics

“Hi, sir!” Aang greeted cheerfully, “Do you take Earth Kingdom money? We need some cloth to repair our clothes.” He held out a small pouch that Bumi gave him full of coins.

“You’re not from around here huh kid” The merchant stated simply, setting the three on edge. Had they really already blown their cover? “We take Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom coins.” He then glanced at Katara and Sokka, “Sorry, no Water Tribe coin though.” Surprisingly, he didn’t say this with any malice or even an attitude but as if he was genuinely sorry he couldn’t take their money.

“Ummm….” Sokka started, “are we...not in the Fire Nation?”

Now, this got the merchant’s attention. “Are you kids lost or something? You’re in Aerilon, eastern Fire Nation.” He gave them a strange glance and then looked them up and down. Katara could sense the tension rising and jumped in to try and cover them.

“Sorry, we haven’t been this far out east.” She nervously laughed, “We just didn’t know you were allowed to use Earth Kingdom money here since you can’t elsewhere.” She hoped that the last part was true, or else they were really screwed. However, her nerves were soothed when the merchant's face relaxed and he chuckled a little.

“Oh, well I don’t know why you decided to stop here then, not much to see here if you’re trying to get to the Earth Kingdom.” He talked about fleeing the Fire Nation with such a casual air that the three of them were left shocked. “We’re far enough away from the capital that they don’t pay attention to us. So to keep ourselves afloat we do small trade with some of the colonies and a few small Earth Kingdom villages. Most visitors find it pretty strange, but nobody keeps an eye on the little guys, and sometimes that’s not such a bad thing! What are you guys doing out in a little village like this anyways?” Just as he finished, the door to the shop opened and a young teen walked in carrying a large stack of clothing and fabrics.

“I see you’ve finally decided to grace me with your presence, your majesty!” The merchant says in a strange accent and bows deeply.

“Crap!” Sokka whispers to the others before mirroring the merchant and bowing deeply, with Katara and Aang following suit, “I told you guys stopping here was a bad idea!”

“Daikon stop scarring your customers,” the teen reprimanded, “that’s not how you have good business. Also, I’m _not_ royalty.” She spoke the last part through gritted teeth, making Sokka even more nervous. Who in the Fire Nation wouldn’t want to be royalty?

“I’m just messing with you, Saiya, don’t be so sour.” The merchant, Daikon, frowns. “We’ve got some travelers who were just too naive to not scare!” He gestures to the gang and chuckles. “You guys showed up just in time if you’re in need of fabrics, Saiya’s mom makes the best in the village!” Daikon cheered.

“Daikon knock it off you’re making me sound like some village hero with all your “best in the village” and “your majesty” crap.” Saiya rolls her eyes but then looks to the three still in the shop as if just noticing them. “Oh…..” She looks the three up and down before looking Aang directly in the eyes. “If you guys need some fabrics or even some new clothes I’d be happy to help.” She smiles warmly. Just as Sokka is about to turn down the offer, Aang pipes up.

“We’d love the help!” He smiles back just as warm, something in her light grey eyes and flowing voice reminding him of home.

“Oh come on Sai, don’t steal my customers like that!” Daikon throws his head back and groans. As she opens her mouth to respond, a commotion outside the shop stops her as she turns to look out the shop windows. Her eyes widen and she turns to face Daikon.

“Guards.” They say grimly in unison. Saiya turns to Aang, “You three hide behind the counter, the soldiers here barely tolerate Earth Kingdom citizens, I don’t think they’ll take well to some Water Tribe kids and a nomad.” Daikon pulls the counter gate open and helps them hide behind the counter just as the door slams open.

“How does she know you’re a nomad!?” Sokka whisper-yells at Aang who simply shushes him, even though he’s wondering the same thing.

“Miss Kowano, care to explain where those fabrics are going?” A guard sneered. Aang, Katara, and Sokka peer around the counter edge, next to Daikon.

“Get back.” Daikon looks down as he pushes them behind the counter again.

“What was that?” The second guard snaps, starting towards Daikon.

“Why do you care where my fabrics go?” Saiya interjects as she steps in front of the guard. “I was just here to drop off a shipment to Daikon from my mom, and then I was heading home.” She sneers.

“You might want to watch your attitude.” The guard glares before turning to the second, “You know, I’ve really been in the need of a new undersuit for my armor. It would be a shame if I put that order in tonight with the seamstresses, seeing as they already have so much work.” He smirked at the anger in Saiya’s eyes before turning away. “There’s been reports of the Avatar and his Water Tribe companions in the Fire Nation, very close to here. All information about him is to be reported to me.”

“I saw some people in water tribe clothing today,” Daikon pipes in, and the trio gets ready to run but he continues, “they stopped by and asked for directions to the docks. I told them how to get there, they might be the ones you're looking for.” Daikon finishes and the three let out a breath they were collectively holding. Maybe these people are on our side, Sokka wondered.

The guards smiled at Daikon before looking at Saiya. “See,” he seethed, “that’s how to be useful.” The two guards turned and left the shop, presumably to head north for the docks. At the sound of the door closing, Aang Katara and Sokka popped up from behind the counter.

“You didn’t rat us out,” Katara mused, smiling between Saiya and Daikon, “thank you.”

“Come on,” Saiya urged, “we have to get out of here before they realize you’re not at the docks. I can give you supplies at my home, it’s just a block down. We can take the street behind the stores so they don’t spot us.” She says as she climbs over the counter and opens the back door leading out into a dimly lit street. Katara follows her immediately, along with a weary Sokka, and as Aang gets to the door he pauses.

“Why did you lie for us?” He asks Daikon, eyes search his light gold eyes as he smiles kindly.

“Wouldn’t want to get on the bad side of the Avatar, now would I.” He hands a wide-eyed Aang a small hat. “Get a better disguise next time.” He laughs before pushing Aang out the door to follow Saiya and his friends. Aang throws off his bison fur disguise and pulls the hat on over his head. Aang gives a soft smile to Daikon, remembering an old friend. Fond memories of playing with Kuzon run through his head as he runs out the back to catch up with his friends and potential ally. Saiya glances back at the three of them as she hears Aang run to catch up. Katara glances around cautiously while Sokka simply keeps his eyes on Saiya, untrusting of her. 

“We’re almost there,” she tells them as she faces forwards again, “sorry about the commotion back in the shop. The Fire Nation might not have such a heavy control of this island, but the guards love to abuse their power because of it.” She grumbles as she turns around the corner of a house.

“Are you and Daikon from the Earth Kingdom?” Katara asked, unsure why a Fire Nation citizen would be helping the Avatar and his friends.

“Nope, Daikon’s family goes way back on this island, he grew up here. I’m not from Aerilon, but I’m still Fire Nation. I know it’s hard to believe, but most Fire Nation citizens are just average people.” Saiya chuckled, as she reached a door and fiddled with the key.

"Average people of a nation that does nothing but destroy?" Sokka asks sarcastically and Saiya's smile drops.

"They don't tell us what's really happening, we're taught that we're 'sharing out greatness' with the world," Saiya explains bitterly, "I promise not everyone is bad, most of us are just misguided." Sokka just continues to give her a warry glare.

“If you’re not from Aerilon, where are you from?” Sokka asked, changing the conversation and still feeling like this situation is too good to be true.

“We’re here!” Saiya announced, either not hearing the question or ignoring it. Sokka would bet it was the latter. They stepped inside the small home, looking around. They had walked in through the back door into a small kitchen. Against one wall was a row of counters that had a small spot for heating pots and pans, and a bowl full of berries. Next to them was another counter jutting out from the wall with three chairs tucked under it with a few dirty dishes here and there. Behind the counter, there was a small entry area with a few seats and a low table with teacups on it. There was a small hallway leading to a staircase with a closest on one side of the wall and a photo on the other. The gang walked into the small space, surprised by the homeyness of it.

“I didn’t know the Fire Nation had actually….nice houses.” Katara looked around, amazed. Saiya just chuckled

“Well their people have to live somewhere, what did you expect? That we lived in cells?” Saiya jokes, only to see both Sokka and Katara look at her with strange looks and then sheepishly nod. “Oh.” Saiya suddenly remembered these aren’t just simple townsfolk she’s helping, but Fire Nation fugitives. She rushed to the front of the house and shut all the windows and drew the blinds closed and finally, locked the door. She turned back to see Katara looking intently at the family photo in the hallway, Aang mesmerized by the stovetop, and Sokka leaning on the counter looking directly at her.

“I never got your names.” She looked between the three.

“Oh! I’m Katara! That’s my brother, Sokka. And that’s Aang!” Katara smiled lightly, gesturing to each member while Sokka looked at her bewildered.

“Katara, Aang, a word please!” He pointed to the small space in the kitchen where Aang already was. Confused but trying to respect their privacy, Saiya started to clean up the tea left on the front room table.

“Are we sure we should be giving out our names to this random chick?!” Sokka whispered, glancing back at her cleaning the room, “I mean, how do we know she’s not secretly one of Zuko’s friends, or even working for the Fire Lord?!”

“Her friend in the store knew I’m the Avatar,” Aang stated and both Katara and Sokka’s jaws dropped. “I think she knows too, Daikon said my disguise wasn’t very good. It’s why he gave me a hat! But that’s beside the point. Looking around this town it seems like this place is completely separate from the Fire Nation! Sure they have mean guards but nobody seemed to care about the obviously Water Tribe kids walking around,” At this, Sokka’s face softened. Aang did have a point. They all turned back to Saiya, who was sitting on one of the couches in the front room now. She had apparently started a new pot of tea while they were talking. They got up and walked over to sit down in front of her.

“How are we supposed to trust you?” Sokka asked a little harsher than he wanted and Katara elbowed him lightly.

“What my brother’s trying to say is we aren’t exactly friends of the Fire Nation, and you said that you’re very much Fire Nation. How should we know that you aren’t just going to try and spy on us?” Katara asked, looking deeply into Saiya’s light grey eyes. The girl sighed heavily before looking at the tea, and then up to Aang, and then Sokka.

“You asked me if I’m not from Aerilon, then where am I from,” She looked back at Aang, “well how am I supposed to trust you guys either, you’d be surprised at how many Avatar wanna-be’s there are. Prove to me that you’re the Avatar and I’ll explain, but I’m not about to give my life story to some fake.” She said sternly, before holding up the teapot, “wanna pour me some tea?”

Aang looked at her, then to the cup, and then he pulled the water slowly out of the teapot and gently into the four cups. Saiya smiled.

“Oh! And I can prove I’m an airbender too!” Aand rummaged around in his pockets, “Probably should’ve started with this one since...ya know...last airbender and all that.” He chuckled nervously before looking at Saiya with excited and threw his airbending beads up between his hands before twirling them around, smiling goofily as Saiya looked genuinely impressed.

“Wow...okay then!” She said, standing up and walking over to the family portrait. “I wasn’t expecting it to be that easy.”

“Wait, he didn’t even bend the other two elements,” Sokka stated, confused on how easily Saiya believed them.

“Other than the Avatar, who could bend even two of the four elements?” Saiya smirked at Sokka as his eyes widened and then he shrugged.

“Fair enough,” Sokka said, content with the answer. The remaining three stood up and went into the hallway, where Saiya was still by the portrait. In it were four people. A very obviously Fire Nation man, with tan skin, black hair, and dark red eyes, was on the right dressed in Fire Nation soldier armor. Next to him was a short and thin woman with long brown hair and the same light grey eyes as Saiya. Aang starred at her for the longest, caught up on how much she looked like one of the monks from his temple. She had her hand on the shoulder of a young boy, probably only 12 years old, in front of her. He had light grey eyes, tan skin, and black hair, sharing a striking resemblance to the older man. Next to him was a young girl, with the same light grey eyes, shoulder-length black hair, light skin, and a bright smile. The woman and two children were dressed in very formal, royal looking clothing. They looked to Saiya who had a bittersweet smile on her face. She pointed to the Fire Nation man. “That’s my father,” she smiled, “he was a lead commander under the Fire Lord.” At that statement, the air stilled around them, and the trio tensed significantly. “That’s my mom,” She said, ignoring the tension and pointing to the woman, “she never tells me much about her side of the family. She says they were refugees wandering after their homes were destroyed by the Fire Nation.”

“Why did your mom marry one of the head commanders of the person who destroyed her home?!” Aang demanded, still drawing the parallel between Saiya’s mother and his own people. Saiya looked back at the painting of her father.

“My dad was part of an organization striving for world peace,” she said, and almost as fast as it entered the tension left the house, “he worked his way up in Ozai’s army to be able to give them an insider view into his plans to help prepare for them.” Suddenly her eyes grew cold and angry, shocking Aang. “Ozai found him out and publicly executed my father,” Saiya said, her eyes on the ground. Katara put a hand on her shoulder.

“The Fire Nation killed Sokka and I’s mother,” Katara said shakily as Sokka glanced to the floor.

“I’m sorry you lost your dad.” He said and Saiya smiled sadly and put her hand over Kataras. Sokka felt guilt fill him at his false judgment on the girl. He might hate the Fire Nation, but she has obviously lost just as much because of them as he has. 

“Thank you,” She mumbled, before moving on, “That's how my mom met him, the organization. She was a part of it too, but to be able to save me and my brother she lied to Ozai and told him we had no idea what my father was involved with. It wasn’t a complete lie, me and my brother were completely unaware. Ozai spared us, though I doubt it was his decision, but because we lost the funding from my father’s position we had to move out here. It was secluded enough so no one would know we were in the royal court and cheap living.” Saiya finished, looking at Aang. “My father never told me about the organization, just the name, and their mission. The White Lotus, dedicated to the sharing of knowledge regardless of nation. My brother, however, taught me what he knew about them. Before he was drafted he wanted to try and connect with them and get us refuge in Ba Sing Se," Saiya explained, eyes glazing over at the mention of her brother.

"When I saw you I knew right away you were the Avatar, your disguise wasn’t very good,” she chuckled, moving on, “not only do I want to see the reign of the Fire Nation end, I want the same world peace my father fought for. And I know the Avatar is the way to that peace.” She finished triumphantly, smiling at Aang.

“What about your brother, and your mom?” Katara asked, looking back at the portrait. Saiya glanced at it too.

“My mom works constantly to be able to support me. As for my brother, he’s a crazy good firebender. The Fire Nation forces any firebending prodigy to join the army, so he was drafted as soon as he turned 18.” She sighed, “He would write to us every so often, but we haven’t heard from him in a while.” She looked back at the gang. “I’m sorry, I’ve just been rambling. I still have those clothes and food I promised.” She smiled and turned to go upstairs, but was interrupted by a loud banging on the door. All four of them gasped, and Saiya looked around frantically before opening the closet door.

“Get in! Don’t come out until I give you the okay!” She whispered and pushed the three into the closet before sliding the door closed. It was cramped and they were squished against each other, but Katara had a glimpse of the front room through the crack of the door. Saiya went up to the door and opened it but was promptly shoved to the side by soldiers.

“There’s a lot of soldiers!” She whispered at Aang, nervous for their newfound friend.

“What do you want now?” Saiya growled at the guard.

“You should learn some respect, Kowano.” The guard argued back, before making a hand gesture. More guards start piling in, and Saiya starts yelling.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing!?” She argues, standing in the way of the guards that tried to head down the hallway. Katara’s heart rate picks up considerably.

“What’s going on?!” Sokka whispered across to her, panicked.

“It’s the guard from earlier, and he’s brought backup!” Katara whispered back, just as scared.

“We have good reason to suspect you and your little friend lied to us,” the guard seethed at her, leaning forward to look her in the eyes, “and must I remind you that all information on the avatar must be reported to me?”

“If I knew where the avatar was I’d turn him in, collect my reward, and be on my way,” Saiya growled. “Now would you get out of my house, I need to clean before my mom gets home.” She starts to push the guards back before they pull their swords. Katara gulps from within the closet and grasps for Aang's hand.

“We have to help!” He begs.

“Not yet, we can’t blow our cover!” Sokka argues though he’s starting to think it’s too late.

“I’d suggest you move, Miss Kowano.” The guard glared before shoving her to the side and reaching for the closet. Katara uncorked her waterskin and got ready to fight before a burst of flames flew across her vision and she heard the guard yelling.

“You little bitch!” He screamed and let out his own fire. Saiya gave a powerful kick into the air, fire bursting out and shoving him further down the hall onto the stairs. This got the other guards to start up and begin to close the distance of the small room.

“Aang! Run!” Saiya yelled before throwing more flames at the soldiers, the flames clinging onto the walls of her home. Sokka burst open the closet door, grabbing Aang by the wrist and making a B-line for the back door they came in from. Katara, however, let go of Aang's hand and threw her water on the wall, putting out the fire.

“We have to help!” She yelled back at them, getting in a defensive stance next to Saiya. “You’re a firebender?!” She asked while trying to hit the soldiers with her water, though it wasn’t going very well.

“Get out of here guys!” Saiya yelled again before being hit from the side with another burst of fire. Sokka leaned forward and grabbed Katara with his other hand, shoving her out the door. Aang glanced back into the room just in time to see Saiya get pinned to the ground, handcuffs already snapping against her wrists. She glanced up at Aang with pain in her eyes but face set with determination.

“Go!” she yelled again and Sokka finally grabbed Aang and pulled him into the back alleyways.

They ran all the way back to Appa, who had been wading in the water peacefully with Momo on his saddle. He groaned as he saw the gang running towards him, getting ready to take off in a hurry.

“We can’t leave her! She helped us!” Katara begged her brother.

“She wanted us to leave Katara,” Sokka reasoned, “She said she wanted to help the Avatar give world peace, he can’t do that if we all get locked up!” Katara huffed and glanced around, feeling helpless. Aang, however, looked devastated. He couldn’t believe that she was a firebender too. Maybe she could teach him? Suddenly his face lit up.

“We need to rescue her. She risked her life to let us escape, and is still risking her life!” Aang started to argue, “Plus, think about it Sokka, we saw that she is a firebender, a good one at that! And I need to find a firebending master to defeat Ozai!” Aang tried appealing to Sokka's logical side. It seemed to work too, as he dragged a hand down his face and signed, then looked up with determination.

“Alright, what’s the plan.” The three sit down behind the cover of Appa and discuss. Flying by they had seen a small metal prison, likely designed to hold the earthbenders strewn about the town. It was a start, and they decide to go there first. Break-in, grab Saiya and fly away with Appa. 

"How do we know she'll want to come with us?" Katara asked nervously, noticing the glaring problem in their plan.

"It's not like she can go back to her house, plus she said she wants to help the Avatar," Sokka suggests, "I feel like if we explain to her that it's safer coming with us than to stay and that she can train Aang, she'll come with us." The three look between each other and solemnly realize they've put Saiya in this position. Leave her home or be arrested, and they all knew what any reasonable person would pick. Signing, but nodding, the three get ready for their rescue. 

It was night by the time they put their plan into motion. Katara and Sokka would sneak around the back of the small, shabby prison while Aang created a distraction for the guards. Well, that was easier said than done Aang realized as he air scootered faster than ever with at least fifteen guards chasing after him. Katara and Sokka weren’t having much luck either as they were sneaking through the halls, the prison mostly empty asides from the occasional prisoner who paid them no mind.

“I wonder why there’s really no one in prison,” Katara mused, “since these guards seem to want to stir so much trouble.”

“Small town, plus maybe they just want to bother people rather than actually have to do any paperwork to arrest them.” Sokka then paused as they rounded another corner. “Do they even have to do paperwork? I mean if they’re evil and all who cares why they are arresting people right?”

“Sokka?” A voice called out

“Saiya!” Katara and Sokka cheered as they ran to the small metal cell holding her. She stood up and ran to the front.

“You guys really came to break me out?” She asked, smiling brightly.

“Of course! You helped us, so we’ll help you.” Katara smiled right back, already sensing a great friendship with Saiya, “Plus, Aang does need to learn firebending.” Katara smirked at Saiya’s wide eyes as she froze the lock for Sokka to break with his boomerang.

“You guys want me to come with you?! And Aang wants me to teach him? The Avatar wants me. To teach him!” Saiya looked overjoyed as Sokka shattered the lock and her cell door opened. As she stepped out, she paused and looked slightly sad. “What about my mom…,” she asked no one in particular. Sokka looked at her with a sad gaze.

“You're in cahoots with the Avatar now, you can’t really go back anyways.” He said sorrowfully. “I’m sorry, but it’s probably safer for her that you leave with us.” He reasoned and Saiya hated that it made sense.

“Can I at least stop by my house and leave a note for her?” Saiya asked, looking at them sadly. Neither could deny her that closure, especially considering they never got it themselves. They nod and run out into the front area where Aang is doing loop-de-loops on the ceiling.

“Saiya!” He cheered when he saw her and she waved, before taking off spriting with Katara and Sokka to get on Appa. They hopped on and Katara explained that she was going back to her house to leave a note for her mom and grab a few of her things. Aang agrees and they take off in a jog, Katara and Aang splitting off to go back to Appa while Sokka went with Saiya to watch her back. They snuck back into her house through the back door and Saiya quietly wrote a short note to her mom. It was vague but she knew that if her mother knew where she went she would likely follow. Sokka watched from the hall as Saiya placed the note on her pillow and as she turned around she caught his eyes. He gave her a sad smile which she returned before rounding the corner. There she went into her room and grabbed a small self-defense dagger she has, some clothes, and the Pai Sho tile her father left her. They snuck back out the door and ran down the alley towards the shore where Katara and Aang waited.

"I'm sorry, for earlier," Sokka apologizes and Saiya gives him a bewildered look.

"What do you mean?" She asks and Sokka sighs.

"I didn't trust you, like, at all," Sokka explains, "I shouldn't have judged you that quickly. I assumed just because you're Fire Nation that you're evil." 

"I get it, Sokka, there's no need to apologize." Saiya shrugs him off. Before he can respond they spot Appa and run up his tail onto the saddle with Katara. Aang commands Appa and they take off quickly, already seeing the guards in the distance still running after them. Saiya watches her village until it's nothing but a speck in the distance. 

“So, where are we heading?” She asked, turning away from the sight before her eyes can water. 

“We’re going to the Northern Water Tribe to find a waterbending master for Aang and myself,” Katara answered, looking forward to the sky. “Luckily we won't have to stop in the Earth Kingdom to restock now because of the supplies we gather from your house, Saiya.”

“Well then, make yourself acclimated to sleeping on a flying bison!” Sokka said as he stretched out on the saddle on the back of the bison’s back, Katara following suit and Aang resting on Appa’s head. Saiya took one more glance to the village that was now unseeable and laid out next to Katara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter! This was written super late at night so I hope it's not too crazy, I'll come back tomorrow morning and fix any mistakes that I find.


	2. The Waterbending Scroll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After joining the Gaang, Saiya learns more about Katara's personality and bitterly reunites with an old friend.

“Wait, just one more time,” Saiya pinched the bridge of her nose, “You talked to your past life, Avatar Roku, and he told you that Sozin’s Comet is going to pass by next summer and you have to master all the elements by that?” Aang looked at her and nodded nervously and she sighed.

“Okay well you waterbended my tea the other day, and you’re already an airbending master!” She tried to look on the bright side.

“It took all of my concentration to bend just a small amount of tea into a cup!” Aang groaned. “How am I supposed to master three elements in such a short amount of time!”

“Well, let's see. You pretty much mastered airbending and that only took you a hundred and twelve years. I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer.” Sokka replied sarcastically and both Katara and Saiya glared at him while Aang groaned louder.

“I can barely bend some tea and we're still weeks away from the North Pole! What am I gonna do!” Aang continued pacing until Katara put a hand on his shoulder.

“Calm down, it's going to be okay,” Katara soothed as Aang plopped down in front of her, “If you want, I can try to teach you some of the stuff I know.”

“You’d really do that for me?” Aang asked hopefully.

“Of course! We just need to find a good source of water.” Katara mused.

“Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in.” Sokka grinned sarcastically and Katara flicked him on the back of the ear. Saiya chuckles lightly at their banter and Aang steers the bison closer to the landscape, looking around for a nice training area. He quickly spots a waterfall and follows it back to the pool that leads into the waterfall, which has another waterfall feeding into it. Saiya gasps at the sight.

“Nice puddle,” Sokka grumbles as they land.

"This is so beautiful, are the stop you guys make always this pretty?" Saiya asks and Sokka just groans. Appa glides into the water with a splash before flipping over onto his back as Saiya awwes at the sight.

"Not always, and they're almost never this fun!" Aang starts to get ready to jump in after his bison before Katara stops him.

“Remember why we're here, Aang,” Katara states blankly and Aang hangs his head.

“Oh, right. Waterbending practice.” He sighs as he puts his shirt back on and starts to walk off with Katara.

“Hey! What are we supposed to do then?” Sokka complains as he looks to Saiya who simply shrugs.

“You could clean Appa’s toes?” Aang suggests, trying to make it sound like getting junk out of a bison's toes would be a fun activity. He picks up branches with bunches of leaves on the ends and extends them to the two.

“So, while you guys are playing in the water, we’re supposed to be hard at work picking mud out of a giant bison's feet?” Sokka asks flatly as Saiya scrunches her face in disgust when she looks at Appa’s feet.

Aang smiles sheepishly. “Mud and bugs!”

Sokka looks between Aang, Saiya, and Appa before shrugging and taking the branch with a blank “okay” before getting to work. Saiya, however, looks back at Aang.

“Actually, Aang, I was hoping I could watch you and Katara practice!” She suggests and both Aang and Sokka look at her with confusion.

“Why would you need to study waterbending?” Aang asked, puzzled.

“Well I might not be a waterbender but my dad always told me you can learn all kinds of things to better yourself when you study others!” Saiya smiles, thinking about all of the wisdom her father would give her. Aang lights up at the idea.

“That's so wise! Yeah of course,” Aang then grimaced a little and looks at Sokka, “Looks like you're on Appa cleaning duty by yourself then, sorry Sokka.” Saiya mutters a small sorry as well but Sokka just mumbles under his breath something about ‘magic’ and gets to work.

Saiya and Aang walk over to Katara. As Aang falls into position next to Katara, Saiya sits a small distance away watching them move.

“This is a pretty basic move, but it still took me months to perfect. So don't get frustrated if you don't get it right away.” Katara then sways her body back and forth in motion with the water. “Just push and pull the water like this. The key is getting the wrist movement right.”

“Like this?” Aang asks, but nothing’s happening to the river in front of him.

“Almost! I’m sure with continued practice you’ll get it eventually-” Katara is cut off by a cheer from Aang.  
“Hey look, I’m doing it!” Aang cheers happily while Katara looks shocked and Saiya just looks on in amusement. She’s not sure that specific move could apply to firebending, but maybe just the flowing motion.

“Wow, I can't believe you got that so quickly. It took me two months to learn that move” Katara looks down, slightly embarrassed by the fact that Aang got the move so quickly.

“Well, you had to figure it all on your own.” Aang reassures, “I'm lucky enough to have a great teacher.” Saiya rolls her eyes a little at Aang’s attempts at flattery but still smiles to herself slightly. They continue with another move, this one more specifically moving the water by itself without the rock of the shoreline. Katara does a small demonstration that Saiya gets caught up in, and when they both turn to look back at Aang he’s doing tricks with the water and adding more moves than Katara had. Katara frowns slightly and Saiya senses the tension rising so she gets up and heads over to where Sokka’s still cleaning Appa.

“Hey,” he greets, “I thought you were ‘studying from all the elements’ or whatever excuse you had to get out of Appa cleaning.” Saiya rolls her eyes at him as well.

“I was genuinely watching them practice,” she corrects him, “but I think your sister’s getting upset that Aang’s so good at waterbending. Everything she’s shown him so far that she says took her months, he’s done in five minutes.” Saiya says as she glances back to Katara and Aang where Katara’s attempting to make a wave.

“Katara is the only waterbender left in our tribe,” Sokka defends, “she had to teach herself everything she knows, so it makes sense that she's upset Aang’s getting it easy being the Avatar.” Saiya’s eyebrows go up a little at that, having not even considered that. Just as she goes to compliment Sokka for defending his sister like that, a wave crashes over the two of them and Appa.

“Aang?!” Sokka yells as Saiya gives a small puff of heat over her clothing to help dry it out faster.

“Looks like I got the hang of that move! What else do you got?” Aang asks excitedly but Katara just looks aggravated.

“That's enough practicing for today.” Katara snaps.

“Yeah, I'll say!” Sokka yells again as he points down the river, “You just "practiced" our supplies down the river.” And he’s right, as they look and see most of their belongings float down the river.

“So much for gathering supplies from my house,” Saiya grumbles as they get ready to head into town to find somewhere to replace all their lost belongings. They all follow Aang to the market that he spotted on the flight, Sokka grumbling the entire way. After realizing they’ve barely got any money left, most of it going down the river and Aang spending some on a bison whistle that doesn’t even work, they give Katara the money and continue searching for a shop. They pass by a boat with a man yelling from it. Sokka, Katara, and Saiya all zone him out, knowing a scammer when they see one. Aang, however, didn’t seem to realize the guy was a phony and gets lured into the boat as the other three groan and follow suit.

“Hey, Saiya,” Sokka calls out, “Look at these boomerangs!” He leans to the side to let Saiya get a view and she makes a pleased hum.

“Those are pretty cool, actually.” She says, seeming genuinely surprised. They both turn when they hear Aang and Katara talking with the captain, but Sokka pulls Saiya’s attention back to the boomerangs.

“Boomerangs don’t get enough credit for how awesome they are,” Sokka boasts, “Bows you have to pick up your arrows, swords you're stuck at close range, but boomerangs are like a trusty friend.” He muses as he rubs his boomerang lovingly. Saiya gives him a strange look before they overhear the seller mention he got the item Katara and Aang are bickering about for free.

“Wait a minute,” Sokka leans over, suspicious, “Sea loving traders, with suspiciously acquired merchandise, and pet reptile birds? You guys are pirates!” Sokka yells angrily.

“We prefer to think of ourselves as "high-risk traders." The pirate smirks at Sokka as he continues to glare at the pirate.

“How much for the scroll?” Katara asks, eyes shining at the sight of knowledge about her culture. The pirate tells them that the scroll already has a buy, so Saiya tunes out the conversation, instead, she turns back to a collection of small daggers.

“Sokka, come look at these,” She waves Sokka over, away from the pirate to show him the intricately designed daggers, "The one I brought got swept down the river," Saiya says pointedly looking at Aang and Katara as the two walk over to them.

“Oooh- Hey!” Sokka starts before both of them are cut off as Katara ushers them out of the boat but into the street. “What was that about, Saiya was just about to show me cool knives!” He complains.

“They were daggers,” Saiya corrects and Sokka rolls his eyes, “But yeah, what’s up?”

“I'll just feel a lot better once we get away from here,” Katara states, hugging herself just as one of the pirates runs out on the deck and starts yelling at them.  
“I told you they’d come to their senses,” Aang brags, “My haggling worked!” He goes to pat himself on the back before they realize the pirates are drawing their weapons and running after them.

“Yeah, I don’t think they’re looking to trade!” Saiya yells before they all take off running. Katara using patches of water to freeze the pirates to the ground, Saiya giving small bursts of fire to scare them off, trying to get away from them but they’re back into a small alleyway.

“ Now, who gets to taste the steel of my blade first?” One threatens and Saiya gulps.

“No thanks!” Aang yells defiantly before running towards them with his glider spread open, “Grab on tight!” He yells to the three of them still on the ground. They jump, the siblings each grabbing a leg and Saiya grabbing the wood at the end of the staff.

“Well, that could’ve gone better.” She stares blankly, looking below at the pirates bewildered by the team flying away.

“You’re telling me!” Sokka yells, throwing his arms out for dramatic effect before remembering his arms are the only thing keeping him from plummeting into the ground. With a yelp, he adjusts his grip on Aang’s leg and they fly back to their small camp area.

Once they get back to the camp, however, Katara reveals the reason they were chasing them was that Katara stole (re-stole?) the waterbending scroll. Sokka yells about how unnecessary it was, while Katara argues that it was stolen in the first place so there was no harm in taking it again. Saiya just shakes her head and heads over to what remains of their supplies, planning to start making them a meal for the night as the sun starts setting.

She spears a fish from the river and starts a small fire to cook it over, while it’s cooking she looks around for any natural herbs so it’s not so bland. She’s always loved cooking, one of the few things she and her brother got to do together when they lived in Aerilon. He would work all day to help support them, but when he came home he would always brew a pot of tea and have Saiya help him prepare dinner. While it was practical so she would be able to feed herself when he inevitably left to join the army, it also gave them something to do together to get their minds off of their life situation. As she comes out of her thoughts of her brother, having grabbed some herbs to season the fish (and some native vegetables for Aang as she soon remembered he’s vegetarian), she hears Katara yelling about the scroll.

“Will you please shut your air hole? Believe it or not, your infinite wisdom gets a little old sometimes! Why don't we just throw the scroll away since you're so naturally gifted!” She yells and Sokka glares at her while Saiya looks at a now teary-eyed Aang.  
“What?” Katara demands before she follows Saiya’s line of sight to see Aang. She gasps slightly. “Oh my gosh, Aang, I am so sorry, I don't know what came over me. But you know what, it won't happen again.” She says as she hands the scroll to Aang. “Here, this is yours. I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore.”

Katara apologizes to Momo as well, apparently having hit him in the commotion. However, when Sokka asks for an apology she yells at him and goes over to Saiya who declared dinner ready to eat.

“Why don’t we have some nice food and take a break from water-related activities for the night” She forces a smile at the three of them and they all quietly agree before sitting down for a nice dinner. They chat lightly, Sokka mostly rattling off about the boomerangs he saw with Saiya interject a few times to mention the nice books or pretty weapons she saw. After a length discussion on whether one of them was a long dagger or short swords, they decided to call it a night. The siblings roll out their sleeping bags and Saiya grabs her small pillow and blanket, while Aang just lays on the ground. While wondering how Aang stays warm, Saiya drifts off to sleep with the rest of them. 

Saiya wakes up just as the sun starts to rise, rolling over and planning to lounge on her bedroll for a bit longer before she realizes Katara’s missing. She shoots up in bed instantly, going over to Aang.

“Aang, Sokka!” She urges, “Katara’s missing!” While Aang shoots up as well and starts looking around rapidly, Sokka merely stands up and walks over to the bag when he sighs.

“She took the scroll! She's obsessed with that thing. It's just a matter of time before she gets us all in deep-” Sokka starts before cutting off with a yell. Saiya looks up to see the pirates from earlier surrounding them. They throw a net over Aang which he tries to throw off with his airbending but is unable to. Sokka and Saiya both yell out for him.

“I got him, come on!” One of the pirates yell and Sokka looks almost offended.

“What!? Are we not good enough to kidnaAHHH!” Sokka starts to complain but is completely cut off but another net surrounds him. Saiya turns around just in time to shoot out fire, burning the net before it can surround her. But while she's focused on the pirates in front of her, one sneaks behind and wraps a cable wire around her wrists. She struggles to get away or burn the cable but only manages to heat the metal cable and burn herself.

Saiya, Sokka, and Aang all get dragged unceremoniously through the forest to the river by the top of the waterfall. As they all struggle to get away from their captors two large ships pull into view. One is the pirate’s ship/shop, while the other Saiya immediately recognizes as a Fire Navy ship. Gasping and looking around for where the soldiers could’ve gone, a tree with Katara tied to it comes into view and standing next to her-

“Prince Zuko?!” Saiya gasps, and he looks over to her at the sound of her voice. His eyes swirl with unidentifiable emotions before settling on anger with hints of nostalgia.

“What are you doing here?” He demands but before she can answer Sokka starts up again.  
“You know him?!” He also demands, Saiya now violently trying to shake off her attackers while glancing between all of her friends, eyes finally looking to the older man to the right of Zuko. He slimes lightly and waves at her, to which Saiya just looks on in shock.

“Funny meeting you here!” He says casually as if his nephew isn't holding her and her friends captive at the moment.

“Stop with the small talk! Hand over the scroll.” The pirate captain sneers at Zuko to which he glares back.

“You give me the boy!” He demands again.

“You’re really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of paper!?” Sokka argues, which gets the pirates to all look between each other, Aang, Katara, and Saiya all look between each other, shocked that Sokka would openly mention Aang’s avatar status.

“Don’t listen to them!” Zuko argues, “They’re trying to turn us against each other!”

“You’re friend here is the Avatar?” The pirate asks, looking at Saiya to which she laughs darkly.

“No the kid you idiot!” Sokka yells at the pirate “And I bet you the black market would pay pretty nicely for the Avatar!”

“Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!” Zuko growls to which Katara looks at Sokka as well.

“Yeah, Sokka! You really should shut it!” She says, surprisingly agreeing with Zuko.

“I'm just sayin' its bad business sense. Think about how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life.” Sokka states and Saiya finally catches onto his plan. The pirates look between each other before they start to walk away with Aang in tow.

“Keep the scroll; we can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid.” The captain says over his shoulder as he continues to leave with Aang.

“You'll regret breaking a deal with me,” Zuko yells before blasting the pirates with fire. Sokka, Aang, and Saiya are all dropped to the ground in the commotion of smoke bombs, fire, and swords. They try to scurry away but soon two Fire Nation soldiers charge towards them. Saiya lays on her back and kicks her legs out hard, sending out a large plume of fire into the soldiers, knocking them back into the pirates trying to grab them. They continue to crawl around, attempting to get out of the fight without getting trampled. A knife is thrown at Sokka, narrowly missing, but he uses it to cut his bindings.

“Saiya come here!” He yells and she runs to the sound of his voice soon finding him and turning around so he can cut the cable.

“AANG!” They both call out into the smoke.

Saiya makes her way out of the smoke, soon followed by Sokka crawling on the ground and Aang launching himself over the both of them. They spot Katara and run towards her, Saiya turning around occasionally to spray fire into the fight to keep the soldiers and pirates distracted.

“Help me get the boat back in the water!” She says and they all attempt to push the ship but it doesn’t budge.

“We’d need a team of rhinos to move this ship!” Sokka exclaims and Aang smiles to himself.

“A team of rhinos,” he starts, “or two waterbenders.” He smiles at Katara and the two of them start to push and pull the water as they did at the river. Soon the boats back in the river and they climb on board.

“Why did Zuko recognize you?!” Katara asks Saiya as they try to steer the ship.

“This couldn’t wait till later?!” Saiya groans, not understanding how the steering works. Sokka soon takes over while Saiya turns around to fight the pirates that were hoping back onto their ship. Katara and Aang are congratulating each other on their waterbending when Sokka yells at them

“Would someone come help me out!” He exclaims and Saiya turns around to see Sokka being held down by two pirates. She throws two small fireballs that make contact and knock the pirates overboard. As they're fighting off the remaining pirates Katara and Aang attempt to turn the boat away from the waterfall. While it works for a short time, Saiya looks up and sees the other ship heading straight for them.

“Guys watch out!” She yells just as the ship rams into the side of theirs, throwing it over the waterfall.

“Jump!” Aang yells out and Saiya does just as Appa flies below them, catching all four of them.

“Hey! I guess the bison whistle did come in handy.” Sokka congratulates Aang and Katara turns to Saiya with a strange look and Saiya runs a hand down her face.

“Want to explain now why Zuko and his uncle know who you are?” She says with a hint of betrayal in her voice, Sokka and Aang looking over to her as well. This is going to be awkward, she thinks angrily. She glances back to the top of the waterfall where Zuko is still standing with his uncle.

“Since when was Saiya traveling with the Avatar?!” Zuko exclaims, kicking the ground angrily.

“Since now, apparently!” Iroh laughs lightly to himself. “I’m surprised you two recognized each other, it’s been a very long time since her family was involved with the royal family.”

“Yeah, it has been long…” Zuko says almost sorrowfully before turning around and getting ready to leave again.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Now Saiya, I know you want to play with your brother and the prince but that’s just not how it works!” Liyan scolds the young girl hanging off her arm, who only continues to whine more._

_“But mom please!” Saiya begs, “Azula’s so mean and all she ever does is make fun of me!” She whines more, continuing to pull on her mother's sleeve. Finally, Liyan turns around to look at Saiya directly._

_“Saiya.” She says sternly and Saiya instantly straightens up. “Your father is here for very serious business, and we are very lucky that the Fire Lady invites us to her home when this happens. Your brother and the prince are off playing and it would look strange for you to join them. You like Azula’s friends! The gymnast and the governor's daughter, Mai, was it? Go play with them while Ursa and I chat, well call you in when the food is ready and then we can leave.” Liyan says sternly, not happy with the show her daughter’s putting on, especially since they’re guests in the royal palace._

_“Fine,” Saiya mumbles, “but if Azula burns me again I’m never coming back!” She declares and then stomps off to go find Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee. As she rounds the corner Zuko and Liang peak out from the side. Seeing that both his mother and sister have left, Liang comes out of hiding._

_“I’m sorry Saiya’s being a baby about this,” Liang complains, “She doesn’t like your sister a whole lot.”_

_“I can’t blame her,” Zuko laughs a little, “I don’t like her either.” The two boys laugh and start to head back into the pond garden, "We should invite her to play with us some time, Azula can be pretty mean."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's probably going to be a while before I update this again, I kind of burned myself out writing this much in one night! Idk how writers do this all the time.....


	3. Jet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Saiya explains her complicated past with the royal family, and Sokka deciding the group should travel on foot to avoid Prince Zuko, they find a group of rebels calling themselves "freedom fighters" lead by a guy named Jet. While Katara and Aang are happy to help, Jet isn't fond of letting a Fire Nation citizen help them out and Sokka grows suspicious of Jet's morals.

They decided to take a short rest in a forest in the Earth Kingdom. Saiya’s stretched out on her bedroll next to Katara, the two streaming small jets of their elements and twirling them around each other while Sokka watches on, enthralled by the small display. Saiya’s small jet of flowing fire twirls around Katara’s stream of water before the two elements crash into each other, creating a small burst of steam. 

“I still can’t believe you and your brother were _friends_ with _Zuko_ ,” Katara states, still shocked by Saiya's reveal of her past. 

"Well it was more my brother who was friends with him," Saiya sighs, "I wasn't allowed to play with them because it was seen as 'improper' so I hung out with his sister while our moms talked and our dads were in war meetings." The two girls throw their elements against each other again and laugh a little when the hot steam gets blown into Sokka's face. He growls at the two girls before turning away, which simply makes them laugh more.

"Was he always...you know..." Katara starts, unsure of how to ask her question considered Saiya just revealed she was friends with him. 

"Always such a dick?" Saiya finishes, chuckling as Katara blushes from embarrassment.

"Yeah, that." 

"No, quite the opposite actually," Saiya says blankly and both Sokka and Katara sit up, engaged in the story, "His sister was a nightmare. She would always challenge me to Agni Kai's for anything that happened even though we were only little kids. She was crazy mean to the other girls we hung out with, too. Zuko and my brother, on the other hand, got along great," she says with a hint of jealousy, "They would play battle without genuinely trying to kill each other, unlike Azula, and every time we got back home Liang wouldn't stop talking about how much fun they had just talking with each other." 

"Wow," Sokka chuckles sarcastically, "maybe seeing you could bring back the young, not a massive asshole, Zuko you're talking about!" The three of them laugh as Aang leaps down next to them. 

"Where's Momo? I've looked all over for him!" Aang frets and the gang picks up and sets out to look for the lemur. 

Soon, they find Momo along with two other animals strung up in traps from the trees. Aang jumps between the trees to climb up to Momo before he carefully undoes the trap, slowly lowering the trap to the ground. Sokka, Katara, and Saiya pry the trap apart and release Momo, who simply runs out with lychee berries in hand and continues eating. Sokka groans and facepalms while Katara and Saiya laugh lightly at the lemur whos acting as if nothing happened. Aang lands gracefully next to them and starts to head off before hearing the other two animals cry out. 

"Alright, you too." He says kindly and starts jumping between the trees again but Sokka simply aims his boomerang and slices the ropes of the traps, dropping the animals down.

"These are Fire Nation traps," Sokka states grimly, examining the traps. 

"How can you tell?" Katara asks, leaning over his shoulder.

"Look at the metalwork," Saiya points out, "Only the Fire Nation uses such industrial traps. We better go pack up and get ready to leave." They all walk back to Appa but when they start to load their packs onto Appa's saddle Sokka stops them.

"Nuh-uh, no flying this time." 

"What?!" They all start, "Why can't we fly?" Aang questions.

"Think about it. Somehow Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. It's because they spot Appa, he's just too noticeable." Sokka gestures to Appa, whos still lying on the ground. 

"What! No, he's not!" Katara reasons but Saiya glances at Appa. He is pretty hard to miss when there are no clouds. 

"He's a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head!" Sokka argues back, "It's kinda hard to miss him!"

Aang jumps over to Appa and sits on his head, lightly petting the bison. "Sokka's just jealous 'cause he doesn't have an arrow." He mutters to the bison who simply grumbles.

"I know you all wanna fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk," Sokka explains and starts, carrying his pack on his back but Katara stops him.

"Who made you the boss?" She bickers.

"I'm not the boss," Sokka smiles snuggly, "I'm the leader!" 

"Okay, then who made you the leader?!" Saiya shoots back.

"Well I'm the oldest," Sokka starts to explain but Saiya gives him a look, "oldest man," he corrects, "and I'm a warrior, so I'm the leader!" 

"If anyone's the leader, it's Aang. I mean he _is_ the Avatar." Katara gestures to Aang who's playing in the trees. Not the best example of a leader, Saiya thinks. 

"Are you kidding, he's just a goofy kid!" Sokka laughs, looking at Aang as well who's now shifted to hang from Appa's horns with his feet. 

"He's right!" Aang agrees and Saiya throws her hands in the air in annoyance.

The two siblings continue bickering about Sokka's leadership skills before they finally settle on listening to Sokka simply so they can stop arguing and keep moving. Aang starts off arguing the walking could be enjoyable but quickly changes his mind as their backs start to hurt from carrying their supplies. Saiya's feet ache, never having had to walk far for long in her small village. They start to argue again about their annoyance with having to walk and Saiya tries to mediate the group.

"Look, guys, I'm tired too. But the important thing is that we're safe from the-" Saiya starts, trying to calm every down while pushing back a bush, "-Fire Nation..." she finishes as beyond the bush reveals a camp of Fire Nation soldiers. The soldiers snap their heads to the source of the noise and Saiya gulps, Sokka pushing her behind him. They turn to run in the opposite direction but Fire Nation soldiers have already surrounded them. 

"If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you." Sokka bluffs and Katara looks at him bewildered. 

"What are you doing?!" She whispers.

"Bluffing!" Sokka whispers back, anxiety written on his face. 

" _You_ promise not to hurt _us_?" The guard with the eye patch sneers at them, starting to them before falling over, knocked out. 

"Nice work, Sokka! How'd you do that?" Aang asks surprised.

"Uh....instinct?" Sokka chuckles nervously but Katara points up to the trees.

"Look!" She yells as a man with hook swords drops down. Aang, Katara, and Saiya look on in amazement while Sokka just looks confused.

"Down you go!" The man taunts before others start dropping from the trees, joining the fight. Katara and Aang go up back to back, attacking guards with their newly practiced waterbending skills while Sokka attacks guards recklessly with his boomerang. Saiya shoots a small burst of fireballs at the guards, trying to avoid setting the forest on fire. One by one the guards fall as Sokka yells at the man with the hook swords about something and Saiya finishes off one of the guards with another punch. Standing up, satisfied with her fighting skills, she starts to walk back over to Sokka before one of the boys from the trees grabs her by the shoulder and lifts her. He's much bigger than her, so he lifts her a good few feet off the ground and easily holds onto her as she squirms. 

"Hey!" She yells, trying to kick and punch the guy holding her, "I thought you were on our side!" 

"Yeah, put her down!" Sokka yells, threatening the man with his boomerang. The man with the hook swords walks over and pushes Sokka back.

"Didn't you see her?! She was firebending!" He reasons but Aang, Katara, and Sokka look at him with confusion. 

"Well, yeah she's a firebender," Aang tries to ease the situation, "but she's with us! She doesn't like the Fire Nation just as much as us." He justifies but the boys from the trees just glare at her. The man with the swords looks at Katara, who's eyes are pleading, before nodding to the man holding Saiya. He drops Saiya less than gracefully and she stumbles when she hits the ground, Sokka running over and helping her up.

"Ow." She growls at the man who was holding her, rubbing her shoulder. 'I understand that not everybody likes the Fire Nation but why would they attack someone who was helping them?!' She thinks to herself angrily. The man with the swords simply turns away from her and Sokka to face Aang and Katara, who are now back to starting at him wistfully.

"You just took out a whole army almost single-handed." Aang looks at the man like a hero.

"Whole army?" Sokka sneers, "It was like, max twenty guys!" But the man just ignores him.

"My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters, Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak." Jet motions to the rest of the boys and as he gestures to Pipsqueak and The Duke, Aang laughs. They start laughing about their names while Jet walks over to Katara with a strange look in his eyes. Saiya just grumbles to herself and rolls her shoulder, still sore from the tight grip Pipsqueak put her in. Sokka glances at her with concern and she waves him off, it's nothing she can't handle but it's still sore. The Freedom Fighters start to rummage through the Fire nation supplies. 

"Umm, thanks for saving us Jet." Katara smiles sheepishly at Jet, "We're lucky you were there." 

"Yeah," Saiya joins the conversation hoping to clear the tension between her and the Freedom Fighters, "thank you, that could've gone badly if you didn't show up." She smiles kindly at Jet but he simply glares at her over his shoulder and turns to face Katara. Katara, however, doesn't seem to care and is enraptured by Jet to which Saiya just sighs and walks back over to Sokka. She helps him look through supplies as they hear Jet mock Sokka's use of his instincts. Saiya gives Sokka a sad smile and pats him on the shoulder but he rolls her hand off and continues looking through the loot, upset that his leadership skills got them into this mess. The Duke and Pipsqueak state that they found some exploding jelly, along with normal candy jellies, and Jet suggests they take it back to their hideout. 

"You guys have a hideout?!" Aang asks excitedly. Saiya and Sokka both continue to brood, Sokka not wanting to stay around Jet for much longer and Saiya feeling wholly unwelcome. 

"You wanna see it?" Jet asks slyly and Katara and Aang's faces light up.

"Of course we wanna see it!" Katara beams, looking to her friend and brother who look unhappy. She pauses for a moment before shaking it off and following after Jet to their hideout. It's a very short walk through the forest before Jet stops them and looks up into the trees.

"We're here!" Jet introduces, but as they look around they notice it's still just the empty forest. 

"Where? There's nothing here." Sokka argues.

"Here, hold this." Jet says snuggly as he hands Sokka a rope. Sokka starts to question him but is then launched up into the trees above. Saiya looks up, concerned for Sokka, while Aang and Katara just laugh.

"Aang?" Jet offers, but Aang declines and blasts himself up with airbending. Saiya walks forward to take the rope, smiling at Jet to hopefully get him to warm up to her. He gives her a flat look before handing her the rope begrudgingly. Frowning as she goes up, she wonders to herself why the Freedom Fighters seem to hate her so much. The three of them wait for the others and soon see Jet coming up the rope with Katara hanging onto him, blushing furiously. Aang's smile drops, while Sokka just rolls his eyes. Saiya thinks it's cute that Katara found a crush, but isn't exactly happy that it's a guy who seems to have it out for her. Jet and his Freedom Fighters walk the gang through their treehouse, explaining how they've been fighting the Fire Nation occupation of the town over as they've all lost something to the Fire Nation. Anytime there was mention of the atrocities the Fire Nation has caused, some of the Freedom Fighters would glance at Saiya with disdain. While she couldn't judge the anger they had to the Fire Nation, she didn't get why they seemed to group her in with the people who wronged them. Don't they know the average Fire Nation citizen has lost just as much as they have? Katara explains that she and Sokka lost their mother to the Fire Nation and at this Jet glances back at her for the first time since they got in the treehouse. Saiya stumbles a bit at the sheer anger in his eyes and they continue forward, finding places to leave their stuff. 

Once the sun sets they head to the large platform where there's a spread of food. Tons of other Freedom Fighters are around, either sitting and eating or standing guard. As they all sit down, Jet stays standing and gives a speech about their victory earlier that day. When he finishes they all cheer, including Saiya, but Jet snaps his head to her as he sits down and glares harder. Stunned again, she stops clapping and turns back to her food. As Jet sits down, he compliments Katara and Aang on their fighting from earlier, purposefully ignoring Saiya. 

"I might know a way that you and Aang can help in our struggle." Jet suggests, which gets Sokka to lean forward to look at Jet across the others. 

"Unfortunately, we have to leave tonight." Sokka deadpans and gets up to leave, which Saiya is grateful for, but Jet stops him.

"Sokka, you're kidding me!" Jet throws his arms up, "I needed you on an important mission tomorrow." He says with a smile and this gets Sokka to turn around, captivated by the idea of proving his worth after the mess up with his instincts. 

"What mission?" Sokka askes and Saiya groans, knowing they'll have to stay at least the night now. 

As they finish up their food Jet gets up to show them to where they can stay the night. It's a small room made of planks on one of the upper parts of the treehouse, their stuff already put inside and bedrolls laid out for them.

"Wow, thank you so much Jet!" Katara praises and Jet lightly smiles at her before walking past her to leave the room. However, as he walks past Saiya he puts a hand on her shoulder and leans over to whisper in her ear.

"Mind having a chat?" He snaps and points to the door as Saiya tenses, looking to her friends. They're too caught up in discussing the day's events and setting up their stuff to notice her conversation, so she lets Jet push her out of the small room onto the platform outside.

"Can I help you with something." She asks with a cold stare, getting fed up with Jet's attitude to her.

"You might have them fooled," Jet glares back, pointing angrily into the room, "But I know better. You Fire Nation are all the same and if it wasn't for the Avatar sticking up for you, you'd be dead where you stand." At that, Saiya shifts into a defensive pose, on edge from the blatant threat. "But I'm not going to kill you," Jet soothes, "Yet. I don't need to make Aang and Katara mad at me. But if you slip up even once I'll-" Jet starts to threaten but gets cut off by a hand on his shoulder.

"You'll _what._ " Sokka growls, turning Jet to look at him before glancing at Saiya who gives him a relieved look. Jet just shakes Sokka's hand off and backs up.

"You're an even bigger fool than you look if you think anyone whos Fire Nation is good." Jet seethes before looking back at Saiya with a cold look, then turning sharply and walking away. Sokka and Saiya watch him walk away until they can't see him anymore, before turning to face each other.

"Thanks," Saiya says with a soft smile that Sokka tries to return but it turns out more like a grimace.

"Come on, let's head to bed," Sokka opens the door for Saiya, "We're leaving as soon as that missions over." The four of them go to sleep in awkward silence.

Sokka joins Jet, Smellerbee, and Pipsqueak on their mission the next morning, leaving without waking up the others. As they hide out in the trees and relays birdcalls, Sokka listens intently for any sounds, jamming his jawbone knife into the tree.

"What are you doing?" Jet asks.

"Shh.." Sokka hushed, "It amplifies vibrations." Jet has the humility to look impressed with Sokka as he hears someone approaching. Sokka warns Jet who signals the others and they ready their weapons. Sokka leans around the side of the tree, only to see that it's just an old man traveling by himself. He tries to tell Jet it's a false alarm and to back off but Jet and the other Freedom Fighters ignore him and spring into action. They jump in front of the old man and threaten him. They surround him and start to attack, which he attempts to flee from but instead runs straight into Pipsqueak. As Jet continues to taunt the man and prepares to kick him Sokka stops him. 

"Jet stop!" Sokka demands, "He's just an old man!" Jet ignores Sokka, reasoning that the man's Fire Nation none the less and orders Smellerbee and Pipsqueak to search him.

"Not everyone whos Fire Nation is terrible!" Sokka continues to argue, grabbing Jet's attention, "Is this what you were arguing with Saiya about? You think just because she's Fire Nation she's automatically bad?!" Jet laughs coldly at Sokka's statement before taking the supplies Smellerbee looted from the man.

"The people of the Fire Nation are the reason they can do what they do," Jet argued, "If the citizens are so good why haven't they revolted yet?!" Jet doesn't give Sokka the time to answer before he starts to walk away, the Freedom Fighters following close to him. Sokka looks back at the old man shaking in fear on the ground, quietly helps him to his feet, and runs to catch up with Jet. 

Back at the hideout, Aang is playing with Momo on the zip line around the base while Katara and Saiya walk over to Sokka seeing that he's returned. 

"Hey, Sokka," Katara greets, looking around, "Is Jet back?" 

"Yeah he's back, but we're leaving," Sokka states plainly, getting up. Saiya sighs in relief, ready to forget about this whole ordeal. 

"What!?" Aang cries.

"But I just made him this hat..." Katara mopes, looking down at a hat she made of leaves with a small flower on top.

"What happened, Sokka?" Saiya asked, knowing Sokka wouldn't be this serious if something didn't happen.

"Your boyfriend, Jet, is a thug" Sokka deadpans while Katara and Aang gasp but Saiya doesn't find it that hard to believe. Katara starts to argue before Sokka explains what happened on the mission. How Jet and his friends jumped an old man who was simply traveling in the forest. While Saiya is upset, she's not surprised considering how Jet treated her last night. Aang and Katara on the other hand look shocked. 

"I want to hear Jet's side of the story!" Katara demands before storming off to find Jet, the others following behind. Soon they find Jet in another plank room on the upper levels of the treehouse. He's lounging in a hammock with the piece of wheat still sticking out of his mouth. Katara explains what Sokka told them, not holding back her own comments of disbelief. Jet explains that the old man was Fire Nation which, much to Saiya's hurt, Katara takes as solid justification. Sokka starts to argue back while Aang and Saiya stay quiet. Aang looks over to Saiya who looks absolutely livid. 

"Saiya?" Aang questions, concerned about the look on his friend's face, and Saiya sighs for the millionth time that day. She looks at Sokka, who's giving her a knowing look. 

"Jet threatened me last night because I'm Fire Nation," Saiya explains, cutting through the conversation. She looks directly at Jet when she speaks. "He said if it wasn't for wanting to stay on the good side of you guys that he would've killed me already. That if you're Fire Nation you're evil, no doubt about it." She glares at Jet while Aang looks shocked again but Katara simply looks upset.

"Saiya you have to understand his reasoning!" Katara justifies and Saiya looks at her with hurt apparent on her face.

"No, Katara, I don't understand!" Saiya snaps back, "The people of the Fire Nation have suffered just as much from this war. I'm not excusing what the Fire Nation has done as a nation but most people don't even know what's going on!" Sokka's brows furrow in confusion at that, "They don't tell us "Your country is committing genocide" in class! They teach us what's happening is good so we all just fall in line! The few people who do figure out what's going on either get killed or flee the nation." Saiya seethed at Jet who just looked at her with disgust, while Katara glanced between the two. 

"The old man was an assassin." Jet interrupts, sick of Saiya's anger. "He had this on him," he pulls out a knife that's intricately decorated with a small poison compartment, "He was sent to eliminate me; you helped save my life, Sokka." 

"I didn't see any knife!" Sokka argued but Katara came to Jet's defense.

"See Sokka, Jet knew what he was doing!" Katara reasons but Sokka just huffs and starts to leave.

"There was no knife! I'm going back to the hut and packing my things." He yells over his shoulder as he leaves the room. 

"Any defense for why you threatened me," Saiya snaps at Jet before looking to Katara, "any way you want to justify Jet telling me he'll kill me where I stand." Saiya asks in a mock deep voice to imitate Jet's threat. 

"I'm sorry," Jet says and Saiya's eyes snap back to him in surprise. Out of everything she thought he'd say, an apology wasn't one.

"I've lost so much to the Fire Nation," Jet looked into her eyes with such genuine humility that Saiya stepped back, "when I saw you firebending, all I could think of was the firebenders who burned down my village, killed my family, destroyed everything I had. It wasn't right of me to blame that on you, it's hard for me to let go of that." Saiya's eyes softened as Jet reasoned with her and she looked down slightly. Jet smirked to himself, proud that he was able to fool her. 

"I'm....it's okay," Saiya looked back up, between Aang, Katara, and finally Jet, "We've all lost something to the Fire Nation, I understand your anger. I'm sorry I sided with Sokka so quickly." Saiya apologized as well and Jet was shocked she bought his fib so easily. He knew better than to forgive someone from the Fire Nation, but he had to gain her trust and reassure Aang and Katara of his character for his plan to work. 

"I'm gonna go try and explain the situation to Sokka," Saiya said and she left the room, leaving Aang, Katara, and Jet alone. 

"I hope she's able to convince Sokka to let you guys stay," Jet pleaded, "I could really use your help. The Fire Nation is planning on burning down our forest. If you both use waterbending to fill the reservoir, we could fight the fires. But if you leave now, they'll destroy the whole valley." Jet explained and Aang and Katara looked to him with horror. They went back to their room to help Saiya try and convince Sokka to stay. The talk soon gets heated as Sokka tries to explain that he just has a bad feeling about Jet, looking to Saiya to back him up on this but Saiya repeats Jet's explanation for why he threatened her, sticking with Katara and Aang on this one. The argument ends as Sokka simply lays down against his packed bag and the remaining three look between each other, unsure of what to do. They decided to simply lay down as well, hoping Sokka with change his mind in the morning. 

They wake up to Sokka missing, but none of them think much of it considering his mood before they went to bed. Katara reasoned that he was probably just brooding around the hideout somewhere, and they could look for him after they help Jet. At the mention of his name, Jet walks into the rooms and has them follow him down to a small river that they start walking upstream next to. 

"Jet, I'm sorry about how Sokka's been acting." Katara apologizes but Jet just shakes his head.

"No worries, he already apologized." Jet explains and at that the three of them stop and look at Jet with confusion.

"Really?" Aang askes, looking between Katara and Saiya, "Sokka _apologized_?" 

"Yeah, I was surprised too," Jet shrugs, "I got the feeling you guys talked to him or something." At that Katara's face lit up slightly but Saiya's stomach sank. Sokka seemed pretty convinced in his view, even after Katara 'talked' (argued) with him, so it seemed too good to be true that he simply changed his mind. 

"Yeah, I did!" Katara smiled, happy her brother finally saw what she did.

"I guess something you said got through to him," Jet said nonchalantly, "Anyhow, he went out on a scouting mission with Pipsqueak and Smellerbee." Oh, Saiya thought, that at least explains where he went. Katara went on to chastise her brother for being stubborn, while Aang walked over a small crater before pausing. Then he was suddenly thrown into the air by the geyser, landing softly thanks to his airbending. 

"All right, we're here. Underground water's trying to escape through these vents. I need you guys to help it along." Jet explained and reassured Katara when she doubted her ability to help. Saiya, however, didn't need to doubt that she'd be unable to help, knowing that there was nothing she could do to help the situation with her firebending. Jet and Saiya watched as Katara and Aang pulled the water up from the geyser and into the river, just the one geyser already helping significantly with the water level. 

"Yes! Good job!" Jet cheered them on and Saiya clapped, "This river empties into the reservoir--a few more geysers and it'll be full." Katara and Aang smile at the praise before they spot another vent.

"Look, there's another steam vent." Aang points and Katara joins him as they walk over and start repeating the process. 

"Okay. You two keep it up, I'll go check on things at the reservoir." Jet says as he starts to walk off.

"Hey," Saiya interrupts, "How about I join you? There's not much I can do here..." She asks as she gestures to Aang and Katara already working on the next vent. Jet looks at her and opens his mouth to turn down the offer, before stopping and smiling to himself. 

"Yeah, sure, I could use the extra hands!" He lies and starts to head off with Saiya before he gets interrupted again, this time by Katara.

"When we're done we'll meet you over there!" Katara smiles, still working on the water in the vents.

"Actually it's probably better if you meet me back at the hideout when you're done," Jet tells her, not bothering to supply an explanation why. Saiya goes to ask why not, but Jet's already walked off, so Saiya waves goodbye to her friends and follows suit. She jogs to catch up to Jet whos already walked into the forest, walking much faster than before.

"Why couldn't they join us at the reservoir?" Saiya asks, finally catching up to Jet who suddenly has a very strange look on his face. 

"We don't need them seeing us set up bombs on the dam wall," Jet smirks and suddenly pushes Saiya to the ground, "they wouldn't understand, just like how they don't understand you." Saiya struggled in his grasp, kicking flames out, but he had the upper hand from surprising her and was easily able to tie wire around her wrists. "Have fun trying to burn those off." He growled before throwing her up against the tree, her head snapping back and hitting into the trunk. She yelled in surprise again, calling out for Aang and Katara.

"I was hoping you'd buy my lie about Sokka," Jet glared at her once he was satisfied with the knot he made in the wire that kept her pinned to the tree, "seeing as you bought the fake apology, but I can't risk you putting Katara and Aang on edge about my plan." Saiya kicked wildly, catching a few small bushes on fire and almost hitting Jet but he quickly dodged before snarling back at her.

"What are you planning on doing?!" Saiya demanded, "If you can't tell the _Avatar_ out of fear of him stopping your plan how could you possibly believe what you're doing is right!?" 

"None of you get it!" Jet yelled back, before turning away and getting ready to leave, "this town needs to be wiped out. There's too strong of a Fire Nation battalion occupying it, once we flood it the town will be free! You all are too naive to understand the price of war," Jet started to walk away, " _including_ the Avatar." 

"How the hell can they be free if they're DEAD Jet!" Saiya screamed, not believing what he said. Was he really using Katara and Aang to help him flood this entire town with the citizens still there? "JET!" she screamed back at him, "STOP THIS! THERE ARE OTHER WAYS!" She kept yelling and thrashing, kicking flames out wildly no longer caring about the shrubbery around her that was slowly starting a forest fire. 

"Saiya?!" A familiar voice yells in the distance.

"Sokka?!" She yells back, hoping it's him. After Jet's betrayal, she was starting to fear for what he might have done to Sokka. She looks around but doesn't see him anywhere. "Sokka! Jet tied me to the tree I'm stuck where are you!" She yells out just as she feels the wire holding her in place fall from her and she drops to the ground.

"Looks like you put up quite the fight..." Sokka says as he works on the wires around Saiya's wrist, looking at the small fires kindling on the ground and bark. 

"I took his stupid apology and he tricked me," Saiya growls, angry at not only at Jet but at herself for believing him so easily, "What happened to you?" The wire finally snaps and she rubs the red indents left on her wrists.

"I spied on him last night, he and the Freedom Fighters are going to blow the dam to flood the town! He caught me listening and had Smellerbee and Pipsqueak tie me up and take me on a walk through the forest but I trick them with their own traps!" Sokka didn't waste time bragging about his escape and instead started speed walking towards the town, "We have to save the people of the town, I know it means the Fire Nation soldiers will survive, but so will the innocent citizens." Sokka says with determination as Saiya follows after him into the town. 

"We can't fight Jet's Freedom Fighters but we can get the town to evacuate," Sokka explains as they reach the town, "We're not letting him kill these people." Determination etched into his face.

"That's a great plan Sokka!" Saiya congratulates as she takes off for the soldiers standing guard in the plaza, "You're not such a bad leader after all." She chuckles as she goes to talk to the guards. Sokka pauses and smiles a little, he knew it was a good plan but hearing Saiya's reassurance of his leadership restored his lost pride. He followed after her where the guards were arguing that she was crazy.

"Please, sir! Those bandits in the forest have set the dam wall to blow anytime now, you have to get the citizens out!" Sokka begged, pointing to the edge of town where the dam still stood. 

"You two are just trying to get us to leave our posts," the guard argued, before turning to his man, "take them away, they're spies!" 

"No, they're not." A strong voice called out, and Saiya and Sokka both turned to face the source. A grin spread across Sokka's face, it was the old man Jet tried to attack earlier! "That young man saved my life from those bandits when I was on my walk. I think it would be best we listen to them, and if they're wrong we're better safe than sorry." The wise man reasoned before giving Sokka a kind smile. 

"Fine, but if you two are lying," The guard glared at them but left the threat open-ended. The soldiers work on evacuating the town along with Sokka and Saiya, leading everyone to the high cliff above the town. Just as the last few people reached the top of the hill, a loud explosion rocked the land and everyone braced themselves.

"Well would you look at that," the guard muttered as he looked at the dam, now shattered as water flooded the town. A little girl ran to the edge where the water reached and bent down to grab a small doll that had floated their way. She grabs it and hugs it tightly. 

"Come on," Saiya urges Sokka, "We need to go make sure Katara and Aang are safe." She grabs his wrist as they run off in the direction of the forest beside the dam.

They had come across the three of them quickly, as they weren't too far from the town. When Sokka and Saiya explained what Jet had done to them, Katara looked at Jet with rage. He tried to reason with her again, but this time Katara was having none of it. She froze Jet to the tree and set off to go get their belongings and climb aboard Appa, leaving the forest long behind. 

"We thought you were going to the dam. How come you went to the town instead?" Aang asked Sokka as he guided Appa through the sky. 

"Let me guess, your instincts told you." Katara joked as Sokka smiled lightly and Saiya laughed. Even after he ultimately saved them, Katara still couldn't resist making fun of her brother. 

"Hey, sometimes they're right." Sokka smiles as Saiya looks around at the landmarks below them. 

"Umm...are your instincts telling you to fly in the wrong direction?" She teased as his smile melted off his face and the other two snickered.

"And sometimes," Sokka says as he flicks Appa's reins to turn around, "they're wrong." They all settle back down on the saddle as Sokka flies them to their next destination. Katara glances over to Saiya, whos resting on her arms leaning over the side of Appa's saddle, guilt swirling in her eyes as she looks at the girl she's come to call a friend.

"Hey, Saiya," Katara mumbles, grabbing Saiya's attention, "I'm really sorry I sided with Jet when he was saying how all Fire Nation people are bad. I hope you know I don't think of you like that." She says quietly, voice laced with guilt. Saiya looks at her with a small smile.

"It's alright, Katara," the smile slides off of her face, "He's not completely wrong. Most regular citizens do agree with what the Fire Lords doing, but simply because they don't know any better. As I said, the schools teach us that what Ozai's doing if for the greater good, and that the other nations and people who resist it are against change and progress." The others glance back at her as her head drops back on her arms. "The people who figure out the truth either flee to Ba Sing Se or they're killed." And with that last statement, the conversation is effectively ended as Aang and Katara glance at each other at the sorrow in Saiya's voice, and Sokka turns his focus back to steering Appa. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few notes about the story:  
> Saiya's name is pronounced "Sigh-yah", her brother's name "Lee-aang", her mother's name "Lee-yan", and it's not mentioned but her father's name is Sheng pronounced "Sh-aang". I do also plan on describing Saiya's appearance in snippets through the story, and might even add some art if I make some! This has been fun to write so I plan on putting some art to it as well.
> 
> And about the writing itself:  
> I went back and fixed some errors with the last two chapters! I wrote them pretty late at night so there were a few grammatical things that have now been fixed, but no changes to the actual story. While doing that I noticed how dialogue-heavy this story is! I'll try and add more description and less just talking but that's just how I like to write, so sorry if there aren't a whole lot of descriptions. Also, while this story will mostly follow the Gaang's events and not Zuko's (until they meet up, that is), I want to try and write in a couple of scenes about Zuko's side of the events but that will likely come later. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Sorry for the huge chunk of notes. Feedback is appreciated as this is my first story.


	4. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Low on food, the gang heads into town to buy some more only to realize they're low on money as well so Sokka picks up a job. Aang runs off after being confronted by Sokka's employer and having a strange dream at night, and it's up to Katara and Saiya to go after him and figure out what's been bothering him all day. Meanwhile, Zuko reflects on his leadership of his crew and old relationships.

_Aang glides happily on his bison through the light yellow sky. To his left, Sokka glides gracefully on his glider and laughs. To his right, Katara steers a giant Momo as Saiya sits behind her, waving to Aang and smiling. Katara looks over to Aang as well._

_"We need you, Aang."_

_"I need you, too." Aang smiles at Katara but notices something strange in the corner of his eye. In front of them a large grey and ominous cloud thunders. He clutches Appa's reins tightly._

_"Be careful, guys!" Aang calls out to his friends, but when he looks to his sides they're gone, "guys?" Appa and Aang are surrounded by nothing but the dark sky as a figure comes into view._

_"Gyatso?!" Aang asks, eyebrows shooting up._

_"Why did you disappear?" Gyatso pleads._

_"I didn't mean too" Aang whispers to himself more than anyone. More monks gather around Gyatso before he turns into dark smoke billowing towards Aang. He raises his arms to cover his face, and he lowers them just in time to see a dark cloud swallow him and Appa. He can hear Gyatso calling to him again as he wrestles Appa's reins, caught in the storm, before being thrown into the sea below. Aang and Appa slowly sink as he hears Gyatso and Katara calling out to him, the water dragging him deeper._

"GAH!" Aang wakes, yelling out and gasping for air. His yell startles Katara and Saiya to his right and wakes Momo who in turn jumps onto Sokka's stomach to the left of Aang. Sokka grabs his knife and boomerang and swings them around aimlessly, still half asleep.

"wha's goin on..." Sokka slurs, "are we being attacked again?" Aang looks down at his hands before laying back down and curling in on himself. 

"It's nothing," he mutters, and Saiya and Katara share a concerned look, "Go back to sleep guys." Sokka takes the answer and lays back down, falling asleep almost instantly. 

"Are you okay, Aang?" Katara asks, leaning towards him slightly.

"I'm okay," Aang says blankly, not even trying to convince himself.

"You seem to be having a lot of nightmares lately," Saiya starts "You want to tell us about it? We're here for you, Aang." She tries to comfort but Aang simply curls further in on himself. 

"I think I just need some rest," he mumbles, ending the conversation. Katara and Saiya glance at each other again, before Katara simply sighs and rolls back over. 

"You guys wanna hear about my dream?" Sokka looks over expectingly but Katara and Aang have already shut their eyes, while Saiya glares at him, "That's okay," he grumbles, "didn't want to talk about it aways." 

The next morning Katara and Saiya pack up their belongings while Sokka and Aang get Appa ready. Aang comments about the beautiful weather, perfect for flying, as Katara peaks into their food satchel. She looks up grimly to Saiya, before tipping the bag over and sprinkling the crumbs on the ground. Saiya groans, knowing this means another precarious trip to the market, while Momo swoops in to lick up the crumbs. 

"Well I guess it's also great weather for us to fly ourselves to the market," She projects her voice over to Sokka and Aang, "cause we're out of food. Again." This got Sokka's attention.

"Wait, guys, this was in my dream!" He nervously wrings his hands, "We shouldn't go to the market!" They all look at him curiously

"What happened in your dream?" Katara asks.

"Food eats people!" He says, looking almost sick while Katara just sighs and goes back to packing. "And Momo could speak," he looks coldly at Momo, who sweetly blinks up at him, "You said some very unkind things!" Momo looks at Sokka, confused, before hopping on their shoulders to get to Aang. They climb onto Appa and take off to the nearest market, which thankfully isn't that far. 

"I don't like having to stop at the market this much," Katara nervously glanced behind them into the sea, "we haven't seen Zuko in a while so I'm hoping he lost our trail. Going to populated places won't help us keep him lost by any means." 

Sokka muttered an agreement, still pretty tired from being woken up last night. Saiya, however, just started over the sea where Katara was looking and felt a small pang in her heart. Of course, she didn't want Zuko to find them, Katara having explained a while ago that the reason he was following them was that he was dead set on capturing Aang. Katara glances over after not getting a response only to see Saiya looking downcast and remembers that Saiya explained that they were friends at one point.

"Saiya..." she reaches out to her feeling sympathetic but Saiya leans back.

"No, I get it," she sighs, "it's just...I haven't seen him for a long time. And the last time I did see him he was so....different. He would get upset when his sister tried to fight me, defend me even. And now...." 

"And now he's trying to capture the Avatar so the Fire Nation can take over the world." Sokka finishes grimly, not liking how Saiya sounded almost apologetic of Zuko. 

"Yeah," Saiya mumbles, "that." 

"We're here!" Aang cheers, oblivious to the hushed conversation they were having. They all hop off and head towards the small market. It's not busy but there are also few merchants. They wander around for a while, trying to find some decent food but nobody seemed to be selling and the few that were gave them strange looks and refused them service. Every time they walked away Saiya could see them from the corner of her eye glaring at her, and she soon caught on to what was going on. She slowed to a stop but before she could explain her theory Sokka starts complaining. 

"What's with the people here!" He demands, "Nobody here's selling anything remotely good and the few that are keep turning us away!" He throws his hands up angrily before looking around for another shop but Saiya stops him.

"Guys I think it's me." She explains and they turn to face her with wild looks.

"What do you mean? We haven't done anything to these people?" Katara asks and Saiya's shoulders slump.

"Yeah, I know," she looks down at her clothing, a bright red shirt with black trimmings and a black belt with a short black skirt and dark red shoes with gold accented straps. The picture-perfect image of a Fire Nation civilian, "but my people have. I might not physically look very Fire Nation but my clothes are a dead give away. We're in the Earth Kingdom, nobody here likes or wants to help someone like me." She says glumly and realization hits the others violently. Katara looks around before her eyes reach a small clothing stall. 

"Stay here, I'll grab you some new clothes with the money we have left." Katara smiles kindly before jogging over to the stall. There she buys dark grey loose pants that cinch at the ankles and the waist, a light yellow cropped t-shirt, and simple black flats. They're not the best quality, but they're the best Katara can buy with the little money she has. Walking back to the group Katara hands the stack of clothes to Saiya who inspects them. 

"These should fit, I'm gonna go hide behind Appa and change," she gestures back towards the way they came from, "but we spent the last of our money on these clothes, while I'm changing you guys should try and find some jobs." She waves them off before heading to Appa who simply grunts at her before going back to his nap. As quickly as she can, Saiya strips her Fire Nation clothes off and throws them up onto Appa's saddle, leaving on the sports wrap over her chest and her underwear. She pulls the pants on and she notices that they're a little short on her long legs, cutting off just over her ankles. They hang loosely but the elastic band that fits nicely around her waist makes them feel secure enough to fight in. The top doesn't fit quite as well, rather than hanging loosely it fits tight around her chest and shoulders, not tight enough to be a problem but still more form-fitting than shes used to with her lightweight Fire Nation clothing. At least she won't have to worry about it flipping up while they're flying on Appa, she thinks to herself trying to look on the bright side. She slips on the simple flats and notices an elastic band around her ankle connected to the shoe, making sure they won't come off if she has to take off running. Overall, the clothing is nicer than she expected for how little it cost. She makes a note to thank Katara for her choices, noticing how the clothes seem deliberately picked to be good in a fight unlike her short skirt and decorated shoes. Smoothing out her new clothes she walks over to the group where Sokka's speaking to a man beside a boat as Katara and Aang watch on. Getting closer Saiya can make out what Sokka's talking about, and it sounds like he's discussing the details of a job! 

"You find us a job, Sokka?" Saiya asks from behind, grabbing all of their attention.

" _Us_?" The Fishman asks incredulously, "I don't have enough money to hire four people, I'll just take the boy." 

"That's alright sir," Katara smiles sweetly at the man before turning to Saiya with a wide smile, "The clothes look so good! Now you look nice and bland." She says, looking Saiya up and down, before realizing that wasn't the best choice of words. Katara stumbles to correct herself but Saiya and Aang just laugh.

"Well being bland was kind of the point," Saiya chuckles, "plus you picked really functional clothes, thanks for that! Now I can actually move my legs!" She demonstrates her full range of motion with her newly acquired pants, Aang laughing at her antics while Katara claps for her show. Sokka just grumbles as he gets back to work helping the fisherman. 

"How come you get a fancy new outfit change and a fun dance while I have to work for our money?" He complains before getting back to work. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zuko paced around his small room on the ship, Lieutenant Jee's comments getting to him. Not only did they speak back against his orders to continue to fall the Avatar to the north, but then mocked him for his disregard for his Uncle's warnings of the oncoming storm. Then Jee went even further and lectured him about respect, calling him spoiled.

"Hah," Zuko laughed bitterly to the empty room, "like he knows anything about my life! What I've done to work for my honor and respect." 

"Well, you do keep yourself very guarded," Iroh spoke from the doorway having entered silently, "Maybe if you opened yourself up to your crew they would be more understanding of your actions." Iroh sat down by the small table and placed two cups for tea and his teapot, already pouring them drinks. Zuko sat down in front of him without a word.

"What's troubling you, my nephew," Iroh encouraged, "bottling up your emotions has never done you any good." Zuko looked away, scowling. On any other day, he would reject his uncle's attempt to talk but Jee's comments go to him. 

"Am I a bad leader?" Zuko asked, looking into Iroh's eyes in search of honesty. Iroh took a long sip of his tea, thinking through his answer.

"No," Iroh says, meeting Zuko's eye contact, "because you are not a leader. You may be a boy forced to lead, but you are not a leader." Zuko scoffed at his uncle's vague advice, feeling almost insulted before thinking harder on his words. Zuko really is just a boy, no older than 16, trying to regain his honor and father's love. Even after everything, Zuko misses his father and his home, simply wishing to go back and not have to lead a group of less than average soldiers to simply regain his father's respect. He sighs, looking aside.

"I want to go home," he mutters to himself, but Iroh overhears and gives Zuko a pitiful smile. Iroh would do anything to help Zuko out of this turmoil, but he knows that Zuko must learn for himself, so he waits for Zuko to continue knowing there's more to say. "I miss my friends, like when Liang would come over with his mom and we would play soldier. Seeing Saiya again only brought up old memories I don't need haunting me." 

"They don't have to haunt you if you simply let yourself enjoy them." Iroh supplies wisely but Zuko just scoffs again.

"How can I enjoy them when they do nothing but remind me of what I've lost!" Zuko snaps bitterly, "my honor, my right to the thrown...my friends." He says the last part with a more wistful tone, eyes softening. "I hadn't seen Saiya since her father was.....I haven't seen her in a long time. I would have thought she'd understand what I'm doing! Why I'm going after the Avatar! But she just looked at me with betrayal," Zuko's brow furrows, unsure of why he still cares so much about his childhood friend's opinion on him. She is a traitor now, anyway, why should he care about her?

"Perhaps you will get another chance to talk to her," Iroh says as he packs away his tea and stands up, "then you can explain your reasoning to her." He starts to leave, satisfied that he got Zuko to express his feelings, Zuko stops him.'

"Why should I bother explaining myself to her?" Zuko demands.

"Because maybe she could explain some things to you, as well," Iroh states simply before leaving and closing the door behind him.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Katara could feel the rain gathering in the clouds as they rolled in, Saiya and Aang both looking off into the distance as they watch storm clouds form. 

"Sokka, maybe this isn't such a good idea. Look at the sky." Aang explains, pointing towards the clouds.

"I said I was going to do this job," Sokka shrugs, lugging more supplies onto the boat, "I can't back out just because of some bad weather."

"The boy with the tattoos has some sense. You should listen to him!" The fisherman's wife yells at her husband who's eyes widen and he sets down his crate. 

"Boy with tattoos?" He asks and turns around to look at Aang, "Airbender tattoos. Well, I'll be a hog monkey's uncle. You're the Avatar, ain't ya?" The three of them smile at the recognition, expecting a much-welcomed thanks, but the fisherman doesn't look too happy. Katara ignores this and gestures to Aang.

"That's right!" She says proudly and Aang feigns modesty. The fisherman's scowl only deeps and Saiya's nerves get set on edge. 

"Well, don't be so smiley about it." He mocks and their smiles drop, "The Avatar disappeared for a hundred years! You turned your back on the world!" He continues to yell at Aang, pointing accusingly at Aang. 

"Don't yell at him!" Katara defends, "Aang would never turn his back on anyone."

"Oh, he wouldn't, huh?" The fisherman laughs bitterly, "Then I guess I just have imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering." He says in a sarcastic tone, Aang's eyes widening. Saiya steps forward between Aang and the fisherman.

"Aang is the bravest person I know. He's done nothing but help people and save lives since I met him." Saiya defends, "Hell, he saved my life! It's not like it's his fault he disappeared!" she throws her hands up in anger and as Katara glances back, she notices the strange look on Aang's face. 

"Aang, what's wrong?" Katara asks, grabbing Saiya's attention. The guilt etched deep into Aang's face shocks the girls to their core, both instinctively reaching out to him but he pops his glider open and flies off. "Aang!?" Katara yells in confusion, still reaching out for her friend. 

"That's right!" The fisherman yells, shaking his fist in the air at a long-gone Aang, "Keep flying!" Katara takes off back for Appa, already preparing to search for Aang, while Saiya's head snaps to the old man.

"You're a bitter old man!" She curses before taking off next to Katara. They sprint through the market, dodging and weaving through people as they run. As quickly as they run the storm pulls in, seemingly out of nowhere. As the girls run up Appa's tail the clouds crash loudly, shocking the two of them. Saiya takes Appa's reigns while Katara kneels on the saddle and with a quick flick from Saiya Appa takes off in Aang's direction at full speed.

"This storm came out of nowhere!" Katara yells over the thundering rain, waterbending as much of the rain away from Appa's head as she can so Saiya can see, "Aang's going to get lost in the storm!" 

"Maybe not!" Saiya yells back, "look at the mountains, there's a small cave in one of them! He might be there!" She explains before quickly realigning Appa to head to the cave. They swoop under the small overhang of rock and jump off Appa before jogging to the mouth of the cave. Inside is Aang sitting in the darkness curled in on himself. 

"I'm sorry for running off," He apologizes in a voice that makes the two girls hearts' squeeze. 

"It's not your fault, Aang." Katara soothes as Saiya walks around and grabs the small pieces of wood and leaves blown in. 

"Yeah, he was way out of line," Saiya adds angrily, plopping the kindling on the ground before giving it a small puff of fire. It illuminates the cave just enough that they can see the sorrow in Aang's eyes.

"Actually," Aang lifts his head to look at the two of them, "he wasn't." The girls struggle to stop their eyebrows from shooting up. 

"What do you mean?" Katara asks.

"I don't want to talk about it," Aang mumbles and Saiya feels like she's talking to a little kid before realizing Aang isn't even that old. Her face drops.

"It has to do with your dream, doesn't it?" Saiya asks and Aang's silence gives her her answer, "Talk to us." she encourages. 

"It's kind of a long story," Aang waves off just as Appa and Momo make their way into the cave, almost as if they sense Aang's pain. Appa muzzles up against Aang which brings a much-needed smile to his face, while Momo bounces around joyfully. Surrounded by the support of his friends, Aang sighs and tells them the story of how he found out he was the Avatar. He was out teaching his friends his new trick, the air scooter, the one that earned him his arrows, before the monks call him into their meeting room. There they explain that they've known Aang was the Avatar since he was a child, his favorite childhood toys being the sign. Aang felt he only picked them simply because they looked fun, but now realizing that apparently everything in his life has been Avatar related. The monks explain that they were going to wait four more years, until Aang was the normal Avatar age of 16, but they sense an upcoming war. With the world now put on his shoulders, Aang went back into the courtyard to play a new game with his friends but because of his new status, they refused to let him play with them, citing an unfair advantage. Aang testified that he was still the same person, but after it was relieved that he was the Avatar his entire world changed. He now spent all his day meditating and training, Gyatso being the small reprieve he got from the stress. However, after overhearing a conversation between the monks and Gyatso, Aang realized that they were going to send him away to another temple to continuing training away from Gyatso. Aang decided to run away but he and Appa get caught in a storm, not unlike the one raging outside their cave. He reveals that the reason he was in the iceberg Katara and Sokka found him in was because he crashed into the water with Appa and in an attempt to save them, he activated the Avatar state and surrounded them in ice.

"I never saw Gyatso again," Aang says sorrowfully, "Next thing I knew, I was waking up in your arms." He says, looking at Katara. 

"You ran away," Saiya states blankly, shocked by Aang's story. 

"And then the Fire Nation attacked our temple. My people needed me and I wasn't there to help." Aang yells in a fit of anger.

Katara and Aang go back and forth about whether what Aang did was for the best before Saiya cuts in.

"Aang," She says sternly and Aang turns to face her with unspilled tears gleaming his eyes, "I think if you stayed, the fire nation would've killed you along with the other airbenders. You were...you _are_ a kid, Aang." She pleads, "None of that should have happened to you, but it did, and now we can make up for it by fighting the Fire Nation." She finishes confidently, the tears in Aang's eyes replaced with hope. The three smile at each other, going to embrace but they hear a cry from the entrance of the cave.

"Help!" the person cries out, "Please help me!" As she runs further into the cave Saiya's fire illuminates her face and they recognize her as the fisherman's wife. 

"It's okay, you're safe!" Katara stands up and comforts her but the woman doesn't seem any calmer.

"I'm okay!" She explains, "but my husband isn't!" This get's the other two to stand as well, fearing for not only the man but their friend.

"What do you mean? Where's Sokka?" Katara asks, fear evident in her voice. 

"They haven't returned! They should have been back by now!" The woman cries, and then gestures to the storm still raging on outside, "And this storm is becoming a typhoon! They're caught out at sea!"

"I'm going to find him!" Aang announces, Katara and Saiya following him as the fisherman's wife stays in the cave. They hop onto Appa and fly out into the sea. Katara and Saiya look around frantically while Aang steers Appa who descends closer to the water. As they get closer Saiya spots a ship, but instantly notices the Fire Nation flag billowing from the sides. Squinting to see through the storm, she tries to make out the figures on the deck but they disappear into the helm too quickly. Fearing that they spotted Appa, Saiya goes to warn Aang before seeing the ship steered in the opposite direction. Confused but grateful, Saiya goes back to searching the waters before Katara yells out.

"There, look!" She says, pointing to the small boat being thrashed in the water. Aang jumps down and hands the two a rope that he uses to launch them onto Appa's saddle. Katara, Saiya, and Sokka embrace while the fisherman hangs on for dear life. Soon enough, they land back at the cave. The fisherman jumps off Appa and runs to embrace his wife.

"Oh, you're alive!" She exclaims, "You owe this boy an apology!" She then scolds, pointing to Aang. Aang tries to deny the man's apology, but he tells Aang how grateful he is for saving his life and Aang seems to accept it. Aang declares that he's done clinging to 'what ifs' of the past and almost consequently the storm outside lifts. They all step outside, where Appa shakes himself off, soaking the group who erupts into laughter. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the storm lifts, Zuko stands on the deck and looks out over the ocean. He feels a pang of strange guilt for the danger he put his crew in and even though he knows his father would scold his empathy, he can't help but feel like his ultimate choice to lead them to safety was that of a good leader. His eyes wander to the sky, still a light grey from the storm. _Like Saiya's eyes_ , he thinks to himself, recalling the last time he saw someone he considered a best friend when things were still normal. Or as normal as they could get for children of Fire Nation royalty. They were only 10 years old when her father was charged with treason and scheduled for execution. It still hurt his head to think about it. 

_A twig breaking behind him makes Zuko jump from his spot by the small pond. He knows he'll be in big trouble if he gets caught having snuck out, but his mind keeps racing at what his mother had told him about his friend's father._

_Looking back at the source of the sound, his eyes widen and meet light grey ones. Saiya gives him a small wave before moving to sit next to him, taking off her shoes and dipping her feet in the pond._

_"Hey," she greets quietly, "sorry for scaring you..." she mumbles, not making eye contact with him and instead staring intently on her feet._

_"What are you doing here?" Zuko questioned, surprised to see that she had somehow gotten into the palace garden but also that she was here after everything with her father._

_"I wanted to say goodbye." She said grimly and Zuko cringed, "I'm assuming your mom told you what happened....what's going to happen." While she spoke vaguely Zuko didn't need to guess what she was talking about. She sounded like she had aged decades from the last time he talked to her. While Saiya's mother wasn't keen on letting her and Zuko hang out, Ursa didn't have a problem and often let Saiya run from Azula to hangout with Zuko instead. Azula had her two other friends and Zuko and Liang stopped hanging out as much as Liang was now a teenager, age 13, and enrolled in firebending lessons that took up most of his days. Saiya and Zuko had been talking almost every chance they got up until a month ago when rumors sturred that her father, Commander Sheng, was a traitor to the nation. Soon after, it was confirmed that Sheng was to be publicly executed for treason. Zuko was stunned further when he was told it meant he couldn't see his only friends, even if they weren't involved with the treason._

_"Yeah," Zuko muttered, "she told me," Saiya said nothing and the silence hung heavy between them. Normally they had no problem just enjoying each other's company but now the tension could be cut with a knife. After what felt like years, but was only a couple minutes, Saiya spoke._

_"If someone were to betray their nation," she started and Zuko saw instantly where this was going, "but it was for the better of the world, would you excuse their crime?" The loaded question sat between them before Zuko's voice rang out._

_"I don't know." He whispered, scared of the idea that one day he'll have to make those decisions himself as Fire Lord. Saiya looked at him for the first time since she sat down, and just took note of everything about his appearance knowing it was likely the last time she would see her friend. Zuko turned to look at her as well, shocked by the intensity of her gaze. The two children stared at each other, their faces young but eyes showing the things they carry with them. Finally, Saiya broke the silence for a second time._

_"Promise we'll stay friends," she pleaded, "even with all of this, even with what's going on with my dad, you'll still be my friend."_

_"Promise" Zuko smiled, which Saiya returned as her light grey eyes lit up._

He would miss that smile. 

Zuko didn't talk to Saiya or her brother for 3 more years, caught up in training, and nervous about what their discussions would be like. His father killed hers, how would they be able to talk again like nothing happened? Zuko would always reason with himself when he felt guilty for not reaching out to her. Though, he realized, she never reached out either. Maybe she was just as scared as him. Eventually, he was banished himself, and rage and pain were the only things that fueled him as he was dead set to find the Avatar and regain what he had lost. He wonders what she thought when she heard about his banishment, no doubt that the information spread like wildfire. Maybe she was sad that he lost his honor, maybe she saw it was revenge for what his father did to hers. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts, deciding he shouldn't be thinking of her as a friend anymore. She was helping the Avatar which in turn hurt him, but a part of him still longed for her friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone noticed, I did purposefully skip The Great Divide. I don't hate the episode (as much as some people anyway), but it's very much a filler episode and I had nothing to add to the story so my draft of it ended up being a near-identical copy of the transcript. So I just omitted the episode, but I don't think anyone will be too upset about that lol.  
> Also, worked on writing some Zuko perspective this chapter! Super excited for the next chapter, hopefully a lot of Saiya and Zuko interaction in that one.


	5. The Blue Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being out in the storm caused Sokka to catch a cold with Katara falling to it shortly after him. Aang goes off in search of help for his friends with Saiya, who decides she doesn't want to stick around the two sick siblings any longer. Seeing an opportunity, Zhao captures the Avatar and is delighted to find a Fire Nation fugitive alongside the Avatar. However, Zuko can't let this happen and does whatever he can to stop Zhao's success.

Aang steered Appa through the bright sky while the others sat on the saddle. Katara doted over Sokka while Saiya sat as far away from him as possible. There was an air of concern punctuated by Sokka's harsh coughs. 

"No need to crowd us, Saiya," Katara says sarcastically as Saiya shifts nervously,

"Don't look at me for help!" Saiya argues, "What am I gonna do other than make him hotter! Plus we don't need all of us getting sick," She justified while Katara just rolled her eyes,

"I'm not going to get sick and someone needs to take care of him," Katara is cut off by a sharp cough and the two girls look at Sokka anxiously, "Aang I think we need to set up camp for the night, Sokka's getting worse," Katara said looking towards Aang who glances back nervously before nodding and steering Appa towards the ground. They land in a small ruined building being overgrown by the nature around it. Aang and Saiya get to work setting up a small camp while Katara continues taking care of a now delusional Sokka. With a small fire set far away from Sokka, the group lays out and rest for a while as Katara continues to care for Sokka. She wets a small rag and sets it on his forehead.

"This should bring your fever down," She says caringly while Sokka just giggles. Saiya glances up, confused as to why Sokka's laughing. 

"You know what I love about Appa the most?" Sokka slurs and Saiya and Aang share a look of concern, "His sense of humor" Sokka laughs to himself

"That's nice, I'll tell him," Katara soothes and Saiya is baffled by how easily she's nurturing Sokka, seemingly unfazed by his delirium. Appa grumbles at the mention of his name to which Sokka just laughs more. 

"Classic Appa," he chuckles before nestling back into his sleeping bag. 

"How's he doing?" Aang asks though they all know the answer,

"Not so good, being out in that storm really did a number on him," Katara says sadly and glances back down at her brother who sniffles pitifully. 

"I couldn't find any ginger root for the tea. But I found a map." Saiya offers, holding up the small map before Aang snatches it and studies it.

"There's an herbalist institute on top of that mountain." Aang announces with hope, "We could probably find a cure for Sokka there," he glances at the three of them, and while Saiya looks hopeful Katara just sighs.

"Aang, he's in no condition for travel." Katara gestures back to Sokka who coughs as if to prove her point, "Sokka just needs more rest. I'm sure he'll be better by tomorrow." She supplies but starts coughing as well, Saiya and Aang both gasp.

"Not you too!" Aang grumbles while Saiya laughs a little

"I told you you'd get sick being next to him so much!" She points to Sokka, proud to be proven right, but Katara just rolls her eyes.

"It's just a little cough, I'm fine-" She starts to justify but falls into another coughing fit which Saiya scoots further back from. 

"That's how Sokka started yesterday. Now look at him! He thinks he's an earthbender!" Aang yells, gesturing to Sokka who does, in fact, think he's an earthbender. He flails his arms around as if earthbending and the others just look on in pity. 

"A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense, too. I'm going to go find some medicine!" Aang sighs before standing up, Saiya jumping up after him.

"I'm coming with, you shouldn't be running around in a strange place by yourself," she reasons and then glances back at the two siblings, "plus I don't want to be around snotty and sneezy over there, we don't need three of the four of us getting sick." Aang looks at Katara and Sokka before hanging his head, realizing Saiya's point,

"Fine, but you'll have to hang on while I use my glider," Aang says just as lightning slams behind them causing all four of them to jump, "maybe flying isn't the best idea," Aang chuckles nervously, he looks to Appa and Momo, "You two are in charge!" The two animals simply huff in agreement but Sokka starts laughing hysterically.

"Ha, ha! You guys are killing me!" He laughs and the others simply share a worried look before Aang formed a large air scooter underneath him. Saiya looked at the ball of air before looking at Aang with an eyebrow raised.

"You expect me to what? Sit on your lap?" Saiya laughed sarcastically but Aang just smiled and held his hand out, "Oh my god he expects me to sit on his lap..." Saiya muttered to herself and soon enough she was clinging onto Aang for dear life as they blew through the abandoned town. It was less sitting on his lap and more clinging to him like a koala monkey, screaming every time they took a sharp turn. They blew past a small destroyed outpost where Saiya thought she saw two people, but before she could get a good look Aang took another sharp turn and she clamped her eyes shut. Aang stops at the steps of a small greenhouse and Saiya lands inelegantly on her back, hair blown up in every direction. Aang looks down at her with a puzzled look.

"Why do you look like you just saw a spirt?" He asks before dragging her up, "Come on! We have to get the medicine for Katara and Sokka!" He urges as Saiya sways dizzily.

"Remind me to _never_ let you convince me to do that again..." She grumbles as they run up the stairs into the large greenhouse where an old woman and a small white cat sit. 

"Hello, I'm sorry to barge in like this, but I _need_ some medicine for my friends, they have fevers and they were coughing-" Aang rambles but the old woman cuts him off.

"Settle down, young man. Your friends are going to be fine." The woman soothes before glancing at Saiya whos now leaning heavily on a table in the back, green in the face, "Thought you might want some nausea medicine for your friend there." She points to Saiya who rubs her head before walking over to Aang, "I've been up here for over forty years you know, used to be others, but they all left years ago." The woman explains, "Now it's just me and Miyuki!" She states as Saiya cocks an eyebrow and Aang rubs the back of his neck, both unsure what to do with the information the woman is telling them. 

"That's nice?" Saiya says with a confused smile.

"Wounded Earth Kingdom troops still come by now and again, brave boys, and thanks to my remedies they always leave in better shape than when they arrive." The woman says proudly and Aang and Saiya glance at each other.

"That's nice," Aang says as well, "Are you almost done?" The woman sighs and starts to look around the greenhouse. 

"Hold on, I just need to add one last ingredient..." The woman states as she wanders around, Aang and Saiya groaning in annoyance. 

"Maybe we shouldn't trust the crazy old lady..." Saiya whispers to Aang but the woman yells back over her shoulder.

"I may be crazy, but I'm not deaf!" She says angrily and Saiya's face flushes with embarrassment as she starts to look anywhere but the old woman. The two glance around bored as they wait for what seems like hours for the woman to find what she's looking for, the storm outside getting worse by the minute. Finally, the woman plucks a flower off of a bush and starts to mix it in the small bowl. Aang and Saiya look to each other excitedly, ready to get back to their friends. Aang reaches for the bowl, 

"Thanks for all your help!" He says as he starts to take off with the bowl but the woman smacks his wrists with a wooden spoon. Saiya winces at the noise and Aang rubs his wrist in pain, "Ow! What was that for!?" He yells back at the woman who glares at the two.

"What do you think you're doing?" The woman asks, reading her spoon to attack again.

"Umm, taking the medicine to our friends?" Saiya suggests, confused as to why the woman angry that they're taking the medicine they asked for but she simply rolls her eyes.

"This isn't medicine! It's Miyuki's dinner," The woman says as she sets the bowl down by the cat and Saiya and Aang's jaws drop to the floor, "Plum blossom is her favorite."

"But what about our friends!?" Saiya demands.

"Well, all they need are some frozen wood frogs. There's plenty down in the valley swamp," The woman shrugs her shoulders, "The frog skin excretes a substance that will cure your friends, have them suck on them. Be sure to get plenty because once those little critters thaw out, they're useless!" Aang and Saiya's jaws drop even further.

"You're crazy!" Aang stutters and the woman laughs.

"I never denied that I was!" She says before gesturing them out of the greenhouse. The two walk outside where the raining only continues to poor.

"Well that was a waste of time," Saiya grumbles, angry at the woman, "Why couldn't she just have told us that before we waited for her dumb cat's dinner! Now it's storming. _Again!_ " Saiya says as she kicks the wet dirt at her feet. Aang opens his mouth to try and calm Saiya down but only lets out a yelp as he's pinned to the tree with a multitude of arrows. Saiya whips her head around only to get pinned to the tree as well by the sides of her pants.

"What the hell?!" She demands and Aang chuckles nervously.

"I think you dropped these!" He pulls the arrows out and holds them out to the dark forest in front of them only for a group of archers to peer out. The two yell and Aang starts to run as Saiya prys the arrows out of her pants. Aang slips down the hill beside them and Saiya calls out to him. She gets the arrow out and looks over the edge of the steep hill where Aang is at the bottom, holding onto frogs.

"Saiya! The frogs!! Grab them!" He yells from below and Saiya slides down after him, getting covered in mud in the process. The two shove as many frogs into their clothing as they can, Saiya now extra thankful for the cinched fabric at the bottom of her pants preventing the frogs from falling out. Seeing the archers follow them down the hill, Saiya kicks a whip of fire out and burns up a new onslaught of arrows. In front of her, Aang throws up a wall of ice as Saiya tries to run but ends up just kicking the frogs in her pants.

"I didn't think today would go with me running with frogs in my pants!" She yells back at Aang who glances back at her only for an arrow to pierce through the ice wall, pinning him to the tree. "Aang!" She reaches out, only for an arrow to pierce through the sleeve of her shirt and pin her face-first into the tree behind Aang. Aang yells out and Saiya tries to rip the arrow out to get a better look at what's happening but before she can escape, the grip of a bow slams into the back of her head, knocking her out as a net is thrown around Aang.

"Saiya!" He yells out for her as the archer drag him through the mud, two more grabbing Saiya by the upper arm and dragging her with them. 

"What should we do with her?" One asked, gesturing to Saiya, and the other one just shrugged.

"Bring her with, Zhao can decide," the other supplied and Aang's eyes widened. Of course Zhao was behind this! Aang thought to himself bitterly as they dragged him on the ground. None of them said a word until they reached a large compound, the arches simply glancing at the soldiers standing guard before they are quickly let in through the gates. Aang continues to struggle in the net and he gets a quicky glance at Saiya being dragged behind him, still out cold. They're dragged into a large room with a few guards standing at the doors behind them before they're brought to a stop. Aang can feel himself being lifted and he continues to struggle before he hears a light chuckle.

"Zhao did it," The voice mused, "I'm impressed. Take him to the cell Admiral Zhao requested." The voice dismissed and Aang is carried away. He tries his best to turn around to see Saiya, who's dragged forward once more. 

"And what about this one?" One of the archers holding her asks, lifting her up slightly, "She's a firebender we found with the Avatar." The commander in the center of the room pauses before smirking to himself.

"Put her in one of the freezers down the hall, we can let Admiral Zhao decide, later," The man says and the archers nod, carrying Saiya down the same hall Aang was being taken down.

"Saiya!" Aang called out and Saiya sturred slightly, "Saiya wake up!" Saiya's eyes stayed closed but her forehead scrunched in pain as she started to struggle more. The arches simply gripped her arms tighter and hurried down the hall past the door Aang was being dragged in. "No! Let her go!" Aang yelled out but he was ignored, being manhandled into the metal restraints suspending him in the air. He hit out with gusts of air but for each soldier he pushed back another grabbed his limbs and tied him in place. As Aang continued yelling out for Saiya or yelling empty threats at the soldiers they left the room leaving him with only himself and his frogs. Minutes past as Aang hangs there, trying his best to blast himself out with his airbending but it proves futile. Soon enough, the door creaks open and none other than Zhao walks in, a smug smile lining his face. 

"So this is the great Avatar," Zhao laughed to himself and walked close to Aang, "Master of all the elements. I don't know how you've managed to elude the Fire Nation for a hundred years, but your little game of hide and seek is over!" Zhao threatened and Aang riled back up.

"I've never hidden from you! Untie me and I'll fight you right now!" Aang threatened but Zhao just laughed more, coming even closer to Aang.

"Uhh, no. Tell me, how does it feel to be the only airbender left? Do you miss your people?" Zhao mocked and Aang scowled in anger and sadness, "Don't worry, you won't be killed like they were." Aang looks up at Zhao in surprise, "See, if you die you will just be reborn and the Fire Nation would have to start searching all over again. So I'll keep you alive, but just barely." Zhao explains and Aang goes back to glaring daggers at the admiral. Aang takes a deep breath and blows all the air he can at Zhao, knocking him over. Aang smiles proudly to himself but his smile quickly drops as Zhao just stands up and dusts himself off, "Blow all the wind you want, but your situation is futile. There is no escaping this fortress, and no one is coming to rescue you." Zhao growls and turns to walk out. Just as he reaches the door, he looks over his shoulder at Aang. "Oh, and I must thank you for leading your friend here too. She's a traitor to the nation, just like her father, and I'm sure the Fire Lord will be glad to finally have a reason to kill her and her family." Zhao says smugly, satisfied with the look of guilt and anger on Aang's face, before slamming the door closed. Aang yells out threats at Zhao before try to yell for Saiya but he gets no response. A few doors down Saiya lays on her side just barely waking up to a pounding in her skull.

"Aang?" Saiya mutters, glancing around before her eyes snap open, "Aang!" She calls out louder this time, trying to stand up to get a sense of her location. "It's freezing!" She grumbles to herself before realizing why. Around her are insulated walls covered in a layer of frost, a small vent pumping in more cold air. She shivers and runs one hand up and down her body while the other rubs the already forming lump on the back of her head. "AANG!" She tries again only for a loud bang to sound on the door.

"Shut up in there!" An angry guard yells through the window before turning back to face the empty hallway. Saiya's anger rises, only fueling her headache, but despite the pounding in her head, she slams her body against the frozen door. 

"Let me out! You put me in here cause you know you couldn't take me!" She yells back at the guard, pounding away on the door only to make herself feel colder and increase the tension in her skull. As she continues to pound on the door she makes out a figure approaching from the hall. As it gets closer Saiya can make out the person and her scowl deepens. "You're a coward, Zhao!" She yells out to the man as he continues to approach. Zhao simply looks through the frosted glass window and smirks at her.

"I loved watching Sheng's execution," Zhao mocked and Saiya felt herself heat up in a rage, "I'll make sure I make it to yours as well." He laughs before turning away sharply. Saiya yells out again, slamming her hands on the window. Fueled by the mention of her father she lets out a blast of fire to the door but even her anger can't help her overcome the freezing temperatures hindering her bending. Barely-there fire puffs out of her fists as she continues to try and punch the door. After minutes of trying, Saiya finally succumbs to her headache and sits down on the ground furthest away from the door, watching it with rage. Just down the hall, a man in a blue spirit style mask creeps around, drawn by the yelling and slamming noises. As the yelling dies down the blue spirit is lost as to where to go, until he hears yelling again and recognizes the voice. 

"What? No! Don't leave, frogs! My friends are sick and they need you! Please go back to being frozen!" He can hear the Avatar yell out and follows the sound, taking out the one patrolling guard on his way. As he glances down the hallway he sees two doors with guards positioned outside of them. One of the guards is distracted by a few frogs hopping out of the room and the blue spirit sees his opening. Running forward he takes out the few guards but alerts the others standing outside a room with a slightly frosted metal door. One charges towards him while the other starts to sound the alarm. The blue spirt smacks the alarm out of the guard's hand with one of his dao swords and uses the other to incapacitate the other. As the blue spirit starts unlocking Aang's cell, Saiya peaks out the small window and tries to get a look at the possible rescuer. It couldn't be Katara or Sokka, could it? She thinks to herself as the blue spirit enters Aang's cell. Aang starts struggling again, looking at the blue spirit nervously before the masked man cuts the metal chains. Aang drops down gracefully and looks at the masked man in wonder.

"Who are you? What's going on? Are you here to rescue me?" Aang shoots out questions to which the blue spirit stays silent, only walking to the door and holding it open for Aang, "I'll take that as a yes." Aang mutters, the two walk out of the cell and Aang looks around in amazement at all the guards the masked person had taken down to get to him. Continuing down the hallway the blue spirit leads him down, Aang stops suddenly. "Wait!" He cries out and reaches out to the blue spirit, "my friend! She's here too, we have to help her!" Aang turns around sharply, getting ready to head back down the hall before something catches him by the collar. Turning around he sees the masked man continuing the walk away, shaking his head in disagreement. Aang simply blows the blue spirit off of him and continues down the hall at a faster pace.

"Come on, I know she's down here!" Aang encourages and the blue spirit sighs and reaches to grab Aang again, "Saiya! Where are you!" Aang yells out and the masked man pauses, stunned almost, before surging forward and turning Aang to face him. He lifts a finger over the mouth of the mask to silence Aang before going back down the hallway in search of Saiya, "The guards said something about a freezer," Aang tells the blue spirit who whips around to face Aang. If he didn't have a mask on, Aang would assume he was shocked, but he had no way of telling as the blue spirit turns back around and continues down the hallway, this time at a faster pace. 

"Aang!" Someone cries out as loud banging noises echo through the hall. The two look around before seeing a few doors in a row, all slightly covered in frost. The blue spirit surges forward and snatches the keys off of the unconscious guard on the floor and unlocks the freezer door, while Aang looks in the other freezers' windows to see if anyone else was being held captive. To his surprise, and thanks, no one else was there so he turns back to the masked man who managed to somehow thaw the door while Aang was turned. 'Maybe this is a firebender that Saiya knows!' Aang thinks hopefully, 'maybe that's why he changed his mind on freeing her when I mentioned her name!' he concludes, deciding he'll ask the masked man at a later time when they aren't trying to escape. 

Even with the door thawed, the masked man still has to pry it open with force. Once the door slams open, Saiya bursts out, shivering violently enough to make her sway and running her arms up and down herself. The masked man helps steady her and runs a hand up and down her back to which Saiya leans into. How are his hands so warm? She wonders but her head hurts too bad for her to think about it. 

"Saiya!" Aang cheers quietly, hugging her tightly, "You're alright! How's your head?" Aang asks and looks to the masked man who pushes back her long hair to reveal a large bump and small cut on the back of her head. He turns to Aang and gives him a 'so-so' motion with his hand, which Saiya furrows her brow in confusion at. 

"Who are you?" Saiya finally questions, "Why won't you talk?" The masked man pauses for a second, but before Saiya can push the question loud croaking is heard. Looking down Saiya and the blue spirit see frogs jumping away from Aang. 

"My frogs! Come back here, my friends need to suck on you!" Aang begs and runs after them as Saiya and the blue spirit follow.

"Aang I've still got some in my pants," Saiya consoles and the blue spirit cocks his head in confusion before deciding it's not important, "Come on, we've got to get out of here." 

The trio runs out and nearly escape view as they scale the inner wall but are spotted soon enough and a guard cuts the rope they slung over the top of the wall. The three fall but Aang manages to cushion their fall with an air bubble. The masked man pulls out double dao swords while Aang gets into an airbending stance as Saiya creates fire blades in her hands. Saiya and Aang manage to fight their way towards the gate, but once noticing their new friend isn't with them they head back into the fight. Aang and Saiya clasp hands as Saiya reaches out for the blue spirit, who takes her hand as Aang launches them on top of the third wall. As they're surrounded Aang grabs a broken spear stick and creates a helicopter, holding onto the blue spirit who lifts Saiya with him. Saiya hangs on by his waist as the three fly over into the next courtyard. They land unceremonially and Saiya's head starts to spin again from all the movement. Noticing this, Aang creates an air bubble to push the soldiers away as the blue spirit holds Saiya as she regains her footing. They continue, grabbing the latters used to scale the walls and creating a make-shift bridge. The three fall onto wall after wall before finally making it to the last wall but they fall just short of grabbing onto it. Aang's hang slips as the three fall to the ground. Now surrounded, the blue spirit wields his swords in front of the two but seeing the guards get into a firebending position Saiya throws up a wall of flames just in time to block the fire from reaching them. 

"Hold your fire!" Zhao calls out and the firebenders stop, causing Saiya to pull her flame wall down, "The Avatar must be captured alive!" Just as the guards move forward the masked man pushes Saiya behind him and Aang before drawing his swords to Aangs neck. Gasping, Saiya gets up and almost pulls the man off of Aang before realizing what he's doing and stays behind Aang. The blue spirit and Zhao start intently at each other before Zhao narrows his eyes and looks to one of the guards.

"Open the gate" Zhao growls through gritted teeth and the guards quietly gasp.

"Admiral, what are you doing!" One asks and Zhao snaps his head towards the offending soldier.

"Let them out, now!" Zhao yells and the gate rises. Slowly, Saiya backs out as the blue spirit still holds the swords to Aang's neck. The three continue back for a while, the blue spirit never letting his position down as Saiya can barely make out Zhao's glare from the top of the wall. Just as she makes eye contact, an arrow flies out and hits the masked man square in the forehead. He drops to the ground along with the swords holding Aang in place and the two gasp, turning back to see a wall of assailants charging towards them. Aang airbends a large cloud of dust as cover while Saiya leans down to check the masked man. Her hand hovers over the mask, still covering the man's face, and she glances back up to Aang who just nods. She grabs the side of the mask and slowly lifts it only to reveal Zuko with a cut on his forehead from the arrow. Aang and Saiya both gasp, Saiya falling back off her legs. She pushes herself up, not once breaking her stare at Zuko while Aang grabs her arm and starts to run. Saiya, still stunned and starting at Zuko, doesn't move and jerks Aang back who turns to look at Zuko. His eyes swell with compassion as he hears the soldiers closing in on them. He looks up to Saiya who's finally broken her stare to look at Aang with sad, compassionate eyes.

"We have to help him..." She pleads but Aang didn't need to be asked, already grabbing Zuko. The two lift him with easy and run off into the woods under the cover of the slowly dissipating dust cloud. They run for a while to put a decent distance between them and the Fire Nation outpost before Saiya slows down considerably, turning to Aang.

"Let's stop here," She mumbles, already starting to prop Zuko up against a large tree trunk, "My head still hurts." Aang looks at his friend with concern before lower Zuko as well. The two than plop down on the ground, groaning in pain from the manhandling and escape they just experienced. Taking a couple of calming breaths, Saiya starts to relax before she hears croaking again along with some shuffling in her pants. 

"Shit..." she mumbles before pulling the opening of her pants wide to let the last frog out, the frog had already thawed, "Well have to grab more on the way back." She tells Aang, who snaps up from his laying position.

"Katara! Sokka! We have to get back to them!" Aang remembers and starts up before Saiya grabs his leg, shaking her head and nodding towards a still unconscious Zuko. 

"Well grab more frogs in the morning, we can't leave him, plus it's so dark I don't think well be able to see them," Saiya reasons and Aang sits back down. Saiya scoots closer to Zuko, closely inspecting the wound on his forehead. Grabbing the small pack she kept hidden on her belt she pulls out a small disinfectant wipe and a cream. As she tends to the wound Aang watches on, shocked by the fact that Saiya was so adamant about avoiding a sick Sokka but is completely willing to tend to Zuko. Out of the corner of her eye, Saiya can see sang starting at her in confusion.

"Go on," Saiya says and Aang jumps slightly, unaware he'd been caught staring, "you can ask questions." Aang rubs the back of his neck nervously as Saiya applies a light layer of the healing cream. 

"You were closer with him than you're letting on," Aang states, not even trying to phrase it like a question, "You said it was your brother and Zuko who were close but I don't think you were telling the whole truth." Saiya leans back from Zuko and starts putting her supplies away, contemplating the statement. 

"My brother is three years older than Zuko," Saiya looks to Aang with nostalgia in her eyes, "He stopped wanting to hang out with Zuko anymore because he was older and got busier too. While my mom still didn't want me playing with Zuko, his mom would let me sneak away from Azula to see him." Saiya looks back to Zuko with sad eyes, "He was my best friend," She mumbles, her voice thick. 

"Why didn't you tell us?" Aang asks and Saiya looks away.

"I didn't exactly think you'd take me saying our current enemy was my best friend very well," Saiya says and Aang gives a small 'oh' before rubbing the back of his neck again. "I'd show up and tell my mom I was going to see his sister and her friends but would wait until my mom left before going to the pond in the palace gardens," Saiya explains and Aang leans in, "We would feed the turtle ducks together, laugh about how mean his sister is, or just talk," Saiya laughs darkly, "There's a lot to talk about when your parents are leaders of a nation being built on murder." Aang's gaze fell before coming back up to Zuko's. He looked content in his sleep, the wound on his forehead already scabbing over. He would've never guessed that the person in front of him was dead set on capturing him for seemingly no reason, Zuko looking younger in his sleep. Saiya sighs and stands up before walking around their small area grabbing sticks and dry leaves before setting them in a pile. With a small puff from her hand, the pile catches fire and glows softly. She glances back at Aang.

"Get some rest, I'll take first watch," Saiya says before sitting down to lean against a tree. Aang goes to argue but a yawn interrupts him and Saiya just laughs lightly, "It's been a long day, I'll wake you up when I get tired I promise." Aang just nods and curls up himself, falling asleep in almost an instant. Saiya looks at his sleeping form before glancing back at a peaceful Zuko. Sighing once more she leans back on the tree and watches the stars. 

"Saiya?" A voice whispers and she startles, noticing the sky is a little lighter. Shit, did I fall asleep? She wonders to herself. "Saiya." The voice presses and Saiya lifts her head only to make eye contact with Zuko. Her breath catches and she leans back but Zuko puts his hands up in a show of peace. The two just look at each other for a while, taking in each other's appearances. Saiya looks at the small cut on Zuko's forehead, noticing how it's almost completely healed with the help of the cream, and Zuko raises a hand to it. His eyes widen a little in memory and he looks back at Saiya.

"Your head?" He asks and Saiya takes note of how his voice has gotten much deeper from when they had last talked. Her lack of response concerns Zuko and he leans forward a bit, getting closer to Saiya. "Is your head alright?" He asks again and Saiya lifts a hand to the small cut she had forgotten about, wincing a little when she makes contact with the swollen bruise. This urges Zuko and as he gets on his knees and puts a hand on Saiya's shoulder. Startled by the contact, she gasps slightly and pushes Zuko's hand off. For a second, she thought she saw hurt in his eyes. 

"It's okay," She reassures him as she leans back into the tree, "I'm okay. Go back to sleep." She tells him and he leans back as well. 

"Wait," Zuko says and Saiya glances at him again, "can I just....explain?" He asks and he has a hard time figuring out the emotion behind Saiya's gaze. It's almost concern but she looks too hurt for that to be right, and Zuko is just further confused as to why she would be hurt. 

"Go back to sleep, Zuko." She says again and something clenches in Zuko's chest but he resigns and lays back against the tree, falling into a restless sleep. Saiya waits another hour or so, seeing Zuko's chest rise and fall, watching the rhythm, and once she determines that he's fully asleep she gets up and heads back to the swamp. Grabbing a handful of the frozen frogs at the top of the cold stream she heads back to their small base where the sun is just rising and Aang is sitting up, awake. He looks at her in surprise but smiles thankfully when she holds up the frogs with a proud smile. The two then look back at Zuko whos starting to stir again. He cracks his eyes open again and this time looks at Aang, only now seeming to realize the Avatar was there with them the entire night. Zuko yells at himself mentally for not taking advantage of that, scowling at Aang, but when he looks at Saiya the hurt in her eyes makes him falter. 

"You know what the worst part of being born over a hundred years ago is?" Aang asks, his voice bittersweet, "I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together." Aang laughs to himself, and looks at Saiya, "He was one of the best friends I ever had," Aang says with emphasis on the best friends part and Saiya looks to the floor while Aang looks to Zuko, "and he was from the Fire Nation, just like you. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?" Aang finally asks and Zuko's scowl returns. Suddenly Zuko shoots up and punches a fireball towards Aang, who gracefully hops over it and flies into the trees, running off. Zuko looks to Saiya and his scowl drops as he realizes just how hurt she looks. She shakes her head before following after Aang. She turns her back on Zuko and while part of him says to take advantage of that, he simply lowers his stance and walks away. 

Saiya walks all the way back to the ruins where Katara and Sokka were camped, which surprisingly wasn't that far. There she finds Aang digging through the mounds of stuff laid around the two siblings. She looks to Aang with confusion, but he looks back at her just as confused and shrugs. Remembering the frogs, Saiya walks to her friends and sticks them in their mouths. 

"Suck on these. They'll make you feel better." Saiya says before collapsing onto Appa, exhausted from the previous day's events and then staying up almost all night. 

"How was your trip? Did you make any new friends?" Sokka asks around the frog, still slightly delusional but the question still stings. A single tear rolls down Saiya's face before she rolls over on Appa, ready to go to sleep and Aang sighs. 

"No, I don't think we did." He says simply, laying down next to Saiya who's already asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow 100 hits and 10 kudos!!! Thank you guys so much!! That probably doesn't seem like much to anyone but for me it's huge, thank you!
> 
> Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been trying to outline the story before I really get into it. I have 2 different ideas for some major events but I'm not sure how they would play out so I want to try and work them out before continuing. However, that's not until book 2 so I plan on scheduling some updates so I can get to work on that! Also, the next chapter is going to be original, aka not based on an episode, so I'm excited about that! Get ready for some big bro Sokka :)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are appreciated!


	6. The Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noticing how worked up their friend is from the events of the previous days, the gang suggests they stop so Aang can get an understanding of firebending while Appa rests. Saiya gets to work teaching Aang the basics of firebending which brings back bittersweet memories of her brother. With the escape with Zuko and memories of her missing brother Saiya begins feeling overwhelmed.

Saiya leans over the edge of Appa's saddle, taking in the view of the Makapu mountains. While the sight is beautiful she can't bring herself to smile, mind still racing with the events from the day prior. What did Zuko want to explain to her? What is there to explain? Her mind flooded with questions as she kept her gaze on the landscape below. Aang was steering and chatting happily with Katara about nothing in particular while Sokka simply listened to the two. Aang already filled Sokka and Katara in on the whole debacle but conveniently left the identity of the blue spirit out of the conversation, saying they never took the mask off of him. While Katara trusted Aang, Sokka knew better than to believe Aang and Saiya wouldn't be curious and remove the mask but he let the conversation go. 

"What do you think it'll be like when we meet the masters in the North Pole?" Katara asks excitedly.

"I don't know, I've never met any waterbending masters before," Aang supplies, "Only my airbending teachers! Saiya, did you have a firebending master?" Aang asks, trying to bring Saiya into the conversation. They're met with silence and when the three of them turned to look at Saiya she was still gazing wistfully at the land below. Sokka's eyebrows furrowed and he reached back to Saiya, putting a hang on her shoulder gently. 

"Wha-!" Saiya jumped, snapping out of her gaze to look at Sokka shocked, "sorry, did you say something?" she asks sheepishly and Sokka's concern grows deeper.

"Aang asked if you ever had a firebending master," Sokka informs her, and she looks to Aang and Katara who both have concerns written on their faces as well.

"Oh, uh, kind of? I was still young so I don't remember it a whole lot. I think he was a master, but we never trained very intensely considering I was young." Katara's look changes to that of confusion.

"And what about when you were older?" She asked and Saiya face dropped slightly, "Did you get more into your training?"

"No." Saiya says bitterly, "By the time I was old enough to start real training, my dad had been....." Saiya trailed off, "My family got banished from the court, so we didn't have the funds to keep me in training. My brother taught me most of what I know." Saiya says, "He was old enough that he got some training in when we were in the capital so he taught me a bunch before....before he left...but he wasn't a master." Saiya goes back to looking at the ground passing below them, sadness evident on her face. Guilt fills Aang for bringing up the subject, but Katara lights up with an idea.

"Why don't we stop for a bit so you can teach Aang some basics!" She suggests and Saiya's frown lifts, "We've been flying for a day straight now anyway, Appa could use the break." Katara tries to write off the break as something for Appa, but really she's hoping that showing off her bending will brighten Saiya's spirit. Much to Katara's joy Saiya perks up at the idea.

"I'd love to!" She smiles gleefully, the first time she's smiled all day, and the others smile back at her, "We should find a clearing away from trees, I don't want to start a forest fire." Aang gives her a big thumbs up before steering Appa closer to the ground to search for a hidden clearing in the trees.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"Liang please~" A young Saiya tugs on her brother's arm, who's dozing on the couch in their small home, "How am I gonna be a firebending master if I can't even firebend!" She reasons to which Liang just scoffs._

_"You can firebend, stupid," Liang laughs before shoving himself off the couch, "You're just not good at it," He says simply and Saiya throws her hands up in the air._

_"That's why you have to teach me!" She yells and Liang runs a hand down his face, exhausted from the day. He was only 16 years old, but he still worked a full day of labor to try and support his crumbling family. He was thankful for the job but that meant he had no time or energy to spend with his little sister. Looking down at her, her bright grey eyes stared back with ambition and he sighs again. He walks around the corner into the hallway and opens the closet, grabbing a small meditation mat and a candle with a holder._

_"Liang I'm gonna tell mom you're being mean if you don't teach me!" Saiya threatens and Liang just glares at his sister._

_"What do you think I'm doing?" He smirks as realization fills Saiya's eyes and she jumps around._

_"Yes yes yes! Thank you, Liang!" She hugs his side before suddenly standing back and bowing deeply, "Pardon me. Thank you,_ Master _L_ _iang." She says in a mocking accent and Liang just shoved her bowed head._

_"Don't make me change my mind, come on," He jokes, shoving his sister out the back door into the alleyway behind their house. He spreads out the mat and sets the candle right in front of it. He looks up to see Saiya's wide eyes studying his every move, "Well go on, sit down." He gestures to the mat and Saiya sits down quickly in a meditating pose. Liang sits directly in front of her, crossing his legs. "Close your eyes, and focus on the candle in front of you," he tells her as he lights the wick with his fingers. Saiya shuts her eyes and takes a deep breath. The two sit there, Saiya breathing in an out, but nothing happens to the candle._

_"You're not focusing," Liang states simply and Saiya opens an eye to glare at him._

_"I'm focused!" She says angrily and Liang gets into a meditative pose as well._

_"No you're not, if you were focused on the candle it would look like this," Liang says as he closes his eyes and takes deep breaths in and out. With each breath in the flame grows, and with each breath out the flame shrinks. Saiya looks on in awe. Liang opens his eyes and looks at his sister with a soft smile. He missed just spending quality time with her._

_"Okay okay let me try again," Saiya insists and closes her eyes again, copying her brother. She takes deep breaths in and out, and the flame reacts. However, unlike Liang's steady rise and fall, the flame shakes and flickers, dying out and relighting again. Saiya's eyes stay closed but her face contorts into a scowl, "why is it doing that? I'm focusing!" Saiya demands and Liang relaxes out of his meditation pose._

_"I don't know, you tell me," Liang says and Saiya opens her eyes to look at him with confusion, "your fire reacts to you and your emotions. Even if you're focused on the fire enough that you can bend it, you won't_ control _it until you find peace." Liang says wisely and Saiya's eyes droop._

_"You sound so old," Saiya says as a joke but Liang can hear the hidden meaning in the waver of her voice. He sighs and pinches out the candle, setting it aside. It's been three years since their father was killed and Saiya is still trying to find a way to cope. Liang can at least focus on work and is afterward to tired to give it thought, Saiya, on the other hand, is left alone all day with nothing to do but think. Liang looks at his little sister and realizes just how old she sounds as well for being only 13._

_"What's wrong?" Liang asks but even the simple question brings a shine to Saiya's eyes._

_"You and mom are both gone so much now...." Saiya says barely above a whisper, "It feels like I lost you two along with dad, I'm all alone." A tear rolls down her cheek and Liang pulls his little sister in for a tight hug. He doesn't say anything, because there's nothing to say. He works 14 hours a day, his mom working 16. He's lucky he got off early enough tonight to even train with Saiya before she went to bed. He barely gets to see his mom, but at least he gets up early enough to have breakfast with her. Saiya, however, doesn't see their mom at all and sees Liang for maybe an hour before she goes to bed if they're lucky. More tears fall down her face as Liang pushes her back to get a good look at her face. Her soft features have always made her look young, but her eyes hold weight beyond her years._

_"Come on," Liang says, standing up and helping Saiya up with him, "Why don't we make some tea." Saiya's lip curls up slightly at that._

_"Yeah," She says softly, leaning into her brother, "that sounds nice."_

_\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"Earth to Saiya!" Sokka waves a hand in front of Saiya's face, who jumps at the sudden motion and turns to look at Sokka, "would this place work for practice?" He asks and Saiya looks around, unaware they had landed. It's a small clearing at the edge of the forest by the cliff dropping off into a small lake. 

"Yeah, this works." She says, taking in the beauty of the area as Aang and Katara nod and hop off to set up camp. Saiya starts to get up to help them but Sokka puts a hand lightly on her shoulder and pushes her to a seat, giving her a concerned look.

"Are you doing alright?" He asks quietly, and Saiya gives him a small smile that doesn't reach her eyes.

"Yeah, it's just been a long week." She lies and Sokka gives her a questioning look but lets her go, the two hopping off Appa. Aang sees that Saiya's done talking to Sokka and not-so-subtly slides next to her.

"So." He says blankly and Saiya gives him a puzzled look.

"So?" She asks him and he gives her a cheeky grin. 

"When can we start!" Aang asks excitedly and Saiya laughs, Aang's eagerness reminding Saiya of herself when she first started learning.

"We can start right now," Aang's smile somehow widened at this statement but Saiya gave him a stern look, "but this isn't waterbending where you can just jump right into the techniques and movements. There's a lot of self-control and meditating when it comes to firebending." Aang just keeps his smile up.

"I'm a monk! Meditating and self-control are what I'm best at." Aang says in a serious tone before his smile snaps back on his face, "Now come on! Let's go to the cliff, it's so pretty!" Saiya cocks an eyebrow at Aang and his serious tone returns, "Also, the sound of the lake can help clear our thoughts for fire bending." Saiya smiles to herself and starts walking to the cliff, Aang following close by. They make the short walk to the edge of the cliff. They sit down facing each other and Saiya crosses her legs in a meditative pose, Aang noticing and mirroring the pose. Aang's face is bright with ambition but Saiya's eyes still hold a sadness that Aang is concerned by. Before he can ask her about it Saiya looks out over the lake and starts talking.

"My brother taught me that while any firebender can make fire, few can fully control it," Saiya explains, "Earthbenders are simply moving the Earth provided to them, no fanciness to it, just their sheer willpower to face the sturdy Earth head-on. Waterbenders are what allows the water to move, but neither is in full control, instead the bender and the water work together to guide each other. Airbenders," Saiya looks to Aang whos enthralled by her explanation and his eyes light up even more at the mention of his people, "let the wind guide them, using their spirit to understand what needs to be done. That's why firebending is seen as being so different from the other elements. Other forms of bending can only manipulate the element when it's around them. Airbenders have a little leeway with this, seeing as there's always air around you and if there isn't air it wouldn't matter considering you'd suffocate," Aang grimaced a little at the dark imagery but Saiya continued, "but earthbenders' and waterbenders' abilities are useless when removed from their element. Firebenders, however," Saiya says with a smirk as she creates a small flame in her open palm, "we create our own element. The fire doesn't exist without and, therefore, is at our complete control." Aang's eyes are blown wide at Saiya's speech.

"You sound more like Avatar than I do!" Aang complains and Saiya laughs lightly.

"I'm just repeating what I've learned. It's why I would watch you and Katara practice waterbending, every bender can learn something from the other elements." Saiya explains and looks to Aang's hands, "Put your hands out, palm open," Saiya asks and Aang complies, "you're not going to make your own fire just yet, but I'm going to put my hands over yours so you can practice controlling it without having to worry about losing control," Saiya explains as she rests her hands in Aangs, "close your eyes and focus on the fire, feel the heat and the movement." Aang shuts his eyes and breaths deeply, focusing intently on the fire. Soon enough, the fire starts rising and falling with his breath and Saiya's eye widen before she smiles with pride, "Wow!" she explains and at that Aang's eye's snap open and the fire dissipates. 

"What? Did I do something wrong?" Aang asks worriedly but Saiya just smiles more.

"No! you actually did really well, the fire was moving with your breath" Saiya explains and Aang sighs in relief, "It took me months to get that!" Saiya laughs but Aang just looks confused.

"Katara took months to get some of the waterbending moves she knows now, but that's because she was teaching herself. I thought you said your brother taught you?" Aang asks but quickly regrets it as the smile on Saiya's face is wiped off.

"After my dad died my brother wasn't exactly home a lot," Saiya says quietly and Aang lowers his head, "he was working and if he got home early enough to practice he was really tired so I never wanted to push him..." Saiya's shoulders hunch over and Aang looks up at her.

"I'm sorry I asked..." he says remorsefully but Saiya waves him off.

"No, it's uh..it's alright," Saiya reassures Aang who doesn't look any less guilty, "I promise it's okay Aang, it's been a long time since then, I've moved on," Saiya tells Aang, trying to convince herself more than anyone else, "Come on, I'll walk you through some moves," Saiya says trying to change the topic and Aang lets her. The two get up and Saiya walks Aang through a few stances, having him simply get a feel for the motions before trying anything with real fire. The two walk through different techniques, Saiya getting lost in the nostalgia of practicing firebending. She can't help but see herself in Aang, with his excitement to learn, and wonders if her brother would be proud of how far she's come. They practice until the sun starts setting and Sokka walks over to them from the forest. 

"Are you guys almost done? Cause we made some dinner." Sokka says and the two straighten out of their poses, dusting themselves off.

"Coming, Liang!" Saiya yells over her shoulder without a second thought but both Aang and Sokka freeze and share a look.

"Um...who?" Aang asks, unsure if Saiya realizes what she said. 

"What do you mean 'who'?" Saiya asks as she starts to walk towards Sokka who's giving her a look of concern for what must be the hundredth time that day.

"You called Sokka 'Liang'" Aang tells her and she freezes, looking at Sokka. The three stand there for a second, Saiya's eye wide.

"Oh..." She looks to the ground, embarrassed, "Sorry....um....let's just go get some food." All the happiness on her face from firebending just moments ago is replaced with a look of deep sadness.

"Saiya," Sokka starts and reaches out for Saiya who simply dodges his hand.

"Forget about it," Saiya snaps but the look of hurt on Sokka's face makes her pause slightly, "please." She says softer this time and Sokka just nods lightly before the three continue walking into the forest where Katara's sitting next to three bowls fill with soup. She looks up to the three with a kind smile but once feeling the tension, looks to Sokka with a confused face. Sokka simply shakes his head, silently telling his sister to let it go as they all sit down. They eat their dinner in silence, Katara trying a few times to crack a joke but they all just give a short awkward laugh before going back to eating. Once finished Katara gathers their bowls and cleans them while Aang shares a few stories of how firebending practice went and every time he mentioned Saiya he would look to her to try and get a reaction, but she would just give him a light smile that would drop the second he turned back to Sokka. Katara quickly finished cleaning and the four bid each other goodnight before quickly laying down, Sokka and Katara in their sleeping bags, Saiya wrapped in her blanket, and Aang just laying on the ground.

Saiya lays on her back watching the stars for a long time before determining she's not going to bed any time soon. Glancing at her friends to check if they're asleep, she then quietly gets up with her blanket wrapped around herself and walks out to the clearing she and Aang were practicing at earlier. It had been a hard week, with getting kidnapped, the run-in with Zuko, and bittersweet memories of her brother. The firebending practice was a nice break that kept her mind preoccupied but then she had to go and ruin it by calling Sokka her brother's name. She grumbles to herself and decides to take a seat on the edge of the cliff. The water below gently lapping at the cliff face helping to relax Saiya's tension, she lets her guard down and get's lost in her thoughts. Her mind wanders from her brother to her father to her mother to even Zuko. How was mom doing now that her entire family was gone? What did Zuko want to explain to me? Why is he trying to capture Aang? Is that scar from the Agni Kai she had heard about where Zuko fought his father? Why hasn't Liang written in months? Did he finally write back, and now Saiya was gone so she'll never know? Should she try and find the organization her father was a part of to help her and her friends? Every question imaginable ran through Saiya's brain and not a single answer came to mind, only more questions. She felt tears running down her face.

"Hey," A voice behind her makes her jump and she turns around, only to see Sokka and she quickly wipes the few tears she shed off her face, "mind if I join you?" he asks and Saiya nods apprehensively. She really didn't want to have to talk about the name mix up but she guessed she just wasn't that lucky. Sokka walks over to her and sits next to her, legs dangling over the cliff as he looks at the water below. They sit in silence for a few beats before Sokka decides to address the platypus bear in the room.

"Liang is your brother, right?" Sokka asks and Saiya can guess that he already knew the answer, but she nods her head anyway, "Yeah, I figured," Sokka says in response before a goofy smile finds his face, "Is he as handsome as me?" Sokka jokes and is proud to see it works as a small laugh escapes Saiya.

"No, I think he's got you beat in that category," Saiya jokes, a small but genuine smiling lifting her face, "he had a girlfriend before he got deployed. You remember Daikon?" Saiya asks and Sokka thinks for a moment.

"Oh yeah, that shop guy who helped us back on Aerilon right?" Sokka asks and Saiya nods.

"Yeah, we know each other cause his older sister was my brother's girlfriend." Saiya shares and Sokka makes a slight 'oh' noise before the two fall into silence again as Sokka racked his brain to try and figure out what to say. 

"Where is your brother deployed?" Sokka finally asks and Saiya's eyebrows furrow.

"Last time I knew he was in a small mining village outside Ba Sing Se," Saiya says and Sokka looks at her, confused.

"Last you knew?" He repeats and she sighs.

"Before I left with you guys, it had been 6 months since my mom and I had gotten a letter from him," Saiya trails off, looking over the lake, "He used to write once a month telling us if he had moved anywhere or just general updates. When he had nothing important to tell us he would just tell us about funny things the other soldiers said or even what he ate that day, just to let us know he's alive," Saiya says as her voice starts to waver, "There had been times before where he wouldn't write that month but I just assumed the messenger hawk got intercepted. He's never gone this long without sending anything..." Saiya mumbles and she can feel more tears start to roll down her face. Sokka wraps an arm around her and she leans into his side, crying silently. 

"My dad left my tribe with all the other men to go fight the war when I was just a little kid," Sokka shares quietly and Saiya looks to him, surprised that he's telling her, "It was soon after my mom died. Katara was still trying to cope and my dad placed the responsibility of the tribe on me. He said he would try and write to us, let us know how he is, but we never heard from him." He finishes sadly and Saiya wraps her arms around him.

"I'm sorry," she whispers to Sokka and his arm around her shoulder tightens.

"I always felt responsible for Katara but after losing our mom and then our dad leaving it became almost my job," Sokka tells, "and I don't mind it. She's my little sister, even if she annoys me all the time, I'll always look out for her." Sokka's eyes are glossy and Saiya realizes in the weeks they've known each other she's never seen him sad. Angry, sick, hurt, sure. But never sad.

"You remind me a lot of my brother," Saiya tells him, "After my dad was killed, my mom and Liang both got jobs. They worked all the time, I never saw my mom and rarely saw Liang. But anytime I did see Liang he would always try and make time for me. I was only 10 when my dad died but even then I could tell how much Liang put on himself. He would come home and sit on the couch with me while I told him how school was or would make tea with me, or tell me about how work went. He would teach me firebending whenever he got the chance, too, even though he had just come home from a 14-hour shift at the harbor. He gave so much for me to be happy," Sokka looks down at Saiya noticing how thick her voice had become, "I wonder if he's proud." 

"I'm positive he is. You're helping the Avatar, any reasonable person would be proud of that!" Sokka says with a quiet cheer and Saiya giggles, "You even helped Aang escape two days ago!" At that Saiya's face drops.

"That wasn't really me, we told you, some guy in a mask helped us," Saiya says and Sokka stays quiet for a second.

"You know who it was." He says, not asking but more stating a fact. Saiya leans off of Sokka and looks back into the forest, which looks identical to the one her, Aang, and Zuko stayed the night it. She stays silent for a beat before looking back to Sokka.

"It was Zuko." She says blankly and Sokka scowls, looking away from Saiya to the lake.

"You shouldn't let him get to your head," Sokka growls, hearing the sympathy in Saiya's voice, "He must have had an ulterior motive." 

"He said he wanted to explain himself to me," Saiya says mournfully but Sokka just lightly shakes his head.

"It's really late, we should go to bed," Sokka says, ending the conversation. He stands up and puts his hand out for Saiya who takes it gratefully. She's honestly glad that Sokka ended the conversation there, not sure herself what she wanted to say. The two walk back into the forest where their friends are sleeping soundly. Saiya lays down next to Aang and Sokka readjusts her blanket before laying back in his own sleeping bag.

"Thank you," Saiya says barely above a whisper and Sokka smiles to himself.

"Any time." He replies happily before rolling over and falling into a deep sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think about this chapter! As you can probably tell it's not based on any episode so I hope nobody is too out of character! For KingSokka or anyone who lowkey ships Sokka and Saiya, sorry this is heavily a brother/sister dynamic, but interpret it how you wish! 
> 
> Also, just to clarify I won't be writing every single episode out! Avatar has very few, if any, filler episodes but I don't want to make you guys just read the transcript for episodes so when I find an episode that I have nothing of importance to add to I plan on just skipping it. I'll try and mention events from the episode I skipped in the chapter after it to keep continuity but just in case you see some episodes missing, that's why! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are always loved!


	7. Bato of the Water Tribe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang discovers an abandoned Water Tribe ship which leads them to find a friend of Katara and Sokka's father. When the possibility of seeing their father again arises, Aang hides the truth and Saiya feels guilty for what her people have done.

The plains surrounding them were lush and bordering on the water which crashed against the rocks. It was a beautiful scene and one of the many reasons Saiya was so happy she joined the Avatar and his friends. They were traveling on foot for the time, with Sokka and Aang in the front and Katara and Saiya hanging back. The two girls chatted casually about the past week of events, remarking how nice it is to have some downtime. They fall into a comfortable silence as they continue walking before Saiya can sense that Katara wants to say something, but won't. 

"I can tell that you want to say something, so spit it out," Saiya teases and Katara blushes.

"Okay don't laugh at me," Katara says quietly, glancing at the boys in front to see if they're eavesdropping, "but I can't stop thinking about what Aunt Wu said to me yesterday!" Saiya giggled a little and Katara gawked at her, "I said don't laugh!" Katara groans and Saiya just waves her off.

"Katara do you really believe those fortunes? She turned out to be a phony, in the end, the volcano still erupted!" Saiya argued and Katara looked somewhat hurt.

"It's just," Katara starts, "She said I'd marry a powerful bender..." She trailed off.

"And she told me I'd be the wife of a powerful ruler," Saiya chuckled, "so who knows? Maybe we've got some interesting futures." The two girls laugh together before hearing Aang and Sokka talking in serious tones just in front of them. They jog to catch up to them and Katara sees Sokka holding a weapon.

"What is it? Did someone lose something?" She asks and Sokka leans back to give her a full look at the weapon. 

"No, we found something!" Aang says and the two girls look at each other, puzzled, as Aang and Sokka continue to rummage in the foliage. They find more burned and destroyed Water Tribe weapons, with slashes and burns in the ground and trees. 

"There was a battle! Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders," Sokka says before looking towards the beach, "The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill." He deduces before running down the hill to the rocky shore. The others follow him and watch inquisitively as he examines the ground for clues. 

"So what else happened?" Saiya asks and Sokka looks around. 

"I don't know," Sokka says, disappointed, "The trail ends here..." They glance around before the corner of a ship on the beach catches Katara's eyes. She would recognize the woodworking and coloring anywhere.

"Wait, look!" She cheers and runs towards it, the others in tow.

"It's one of our boats!" Sokka says with a grin, while Aang and Saiya hang back. The gang looks over the boat curiously.

"Is it dad's boat?" Katara asks and Sokka gives it another look over.

"No, but it's from his fleet!" Sokka says with triumph, "dad was here!" Saiya looks around, noticing there doesn't seem to be a settlement or even a small camp in the area.

"They must have left, I don't see anyone around here," She says but the determination on the siblings' faces just harden.

"Let's set up camp here, someone might come back for the boat," Katara suggests and Sokka starts setting up the tent. The four of them fell into a comfortable rhythm when setting up camp. Sokka built the tent, Saiya would start the fire then leave to help Aang gather food, and Katara would purify the water and roll out their supplies. Aang gathered the native veggies, having surprisingly good survivalist skills and being able to determine what is and isn't safe to eat, while Saiya would hunt or fish for the meat. Once the two got back, everything was already set up and they had a nice dinner, chatting until the sunset and they headed to bed. Just as Saiya finally drifted off, she heard Sokka reach for his weapons. 

"Who's there?" She hears him call into the darkness and she sits up, creating a small light that illuminated the figure walking towards them. It was a lean man with brown skin and dark hair, clearly Water Tribe. He approached their camp cautiously.

"Sokka?" He calls and Sokka instantly lowers his weapon. 

"Bato?!" Sokka asks in disbelief. Their commotion caused Aang and Katara to get up as well, the two rubbing sleep from their eyes.

"Who the what now?" Aang's face furrows in confusion but Katara lights up in glee.

"Bato!" She cries out and gets up with Sokka, the two siblings running towards the man.

"Katara, Sokka!" Bato cheers, hugging the two, "It's so good to see you two, you've grown so much!" he says in a familiar tone before looking to Aang and Saiya who are standing back in confusion. He looks at Aang with curiosity but when he sees Saiya with the fire still hovering in her hand for light he crunches his eyebrows and glares at her. She quickly shakes the flame out, nervous.

"I'm Aang," Aang greets, bowing.

"And I'm Saiya," Saiya says, also bowing and trying to look as harmless as possible but she can still feel the intense gaze of Bato on the top of her head. Before Bato can question the presence of a firebender Sokka cuts him off.

"Is dad here?" He asks excitedly but Bato just shakes his head,

"No, he and the other warriors should be in the Eastern Earth Kingdom by now," Bato says and the siblings look dejected, but Bato shifts his gaze back to Saiya, "Why are you two traveling with a Fire Nation citizen?" He questions and Saiya puts her hands up in a show of peace, giving him a smile. 

"I'm not loyal to the nation," Saiya supplies, "I'm traveling with them to teach the Avatar firebending," She gestures to Aang who smiles and waves. Bato doesn't look any less on edge but nods his head minutely, turning back to the siblings.

"This is no place for a reunion. Let's get inside" He says, leading them up the hill. Aang and Saiya hang back while Bato asks the siblings about their lives. Slowly they approach a small abbey with nuns working diligently. Saiya instantly notices the overwhelming smell, while it's not a bad smell it still manages to give her a headache and from the look on Aang's face she assumes he smells it as well.

"After I was wounded, your father carried me to this abbey. The sisters have cared for me ever since," Bato explains, "Superior, these are Hakoda's children. They've been traveling with the Avatar. I found them by my boat." The woman Bato was talking to bows deeply at the four of them, giving them a warm smile. 

"Young Avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey," She says kindly and Aang's face lights up,

"Thank you, it's truly an honor to be here. If there's anything-" Aang starts but Sokka interjects almost immediately. 

"What smells so good, Bato?" Sokka asks as Aang's smile falls. 

"The sisters craft ointments and perfumes," Bato explains.

"Perfume?" Sokka asks, "Maybe we can dump some on Appa because he stinks so much," he jokes and Bato and Katara give him a blank look while Saiya laughs in pity and Aang grimaces, "Am I right?" Sokka nudges Saiya in the side with his elbow and she continues forcing a laugh. Bato continues to show the four of them around the small Abbey, Katara and Sokka standing close by his side with Aang and Saiya still hanging back. Every so often Bato would glance back at Saiya with a wary gaze. While she tried her best to inconspicuously look around the landscape she would feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Eventually, they come up to a large tent with different pelts and headpieces hanging about. Saiya gasps in amazement but next to her she feels Aang tense up as he glances at the different animal skins.

"Bato! It looks like home!" Katara exclaims. 

"Everything's here," Sokka walks over to the platypus bear pelt, "even the pelts!" He gestures and Saiya walks over, examining the head of the pelt. Her father left behind a dozen books on other nations' cultures, but she had never seen anything outside of the Fire Nation so seeing the world so up close was astonishing to her. Turning back to Aang, her smile drops as she now fully sees just how uncomfortable he looks. 

"Yeah, nothing's cozier than dead animal skins," Aang says sarcastically and the Water Tribe members give him a look.

"Both Northern and Southern Water Tribes use every single part of the animal," Saiya explains and both the siblings and Bato's eyebrows shoot up, "nothing goes to waste so they don't die in vain," Aang's anxiety drops a little at the knowledge but he still has a hard time making eye contact with the pelts. 

"How do you know that?" Sokka asks and Bato's gaze intensifies. 

"I thought the Fire Nation didn't teach about the other nations?" He questions and Saiya rubs the back of her neck.

"No, they don't," she explains, "but my dad was really passionate about sharing knowledge from all nations!" Saiya beamed but Bato just narrowed his eyes.

"Not everything is meant to be shared," He said bitterly, "the nations are separate for a reason." The tension in the room could be cut with a knife at that statement and the four teens simply looked around trying to find something to break the silence. Eventually, Katara spots the dinner spread on the table and effectively changes the conversation. The siblings chat with Bato about different stories, leaving Aang feeling outcasted and Saiya on edge from the previous interaction. Saiya listens in on their stories, enthralled by the feeling of community from just hearing the stories. 

"You would have loved to see this, dad," She thinks to herself, so lost in thought that she doesn't notice Aang slip out the door. The siblings discuss their own father, how Bato is expecting a letter about his whereabouts any day now, but the two decline. The three chat about their family stories for a while before Bato's gaze shifts back to Saiya.

"What about you?" he asks and Saiya's brow furrows in confusion, "You don't look old enough to be running off with the Avatar either, so why are you here?"

"They showed up in my village needing supplies and I helped them but got caught, so it was either stay in prison or run off with the Avatar. Plus, he needs a firebending teacher." Saiya supplies simply, worried she would upset Bato again.

"And your parents are just okay with this?" He asks again and she can see both Katara and Sokka cringe slightly.

"I left without my mom's permission, I left her a note that I was leaving but that was it, I didn't want her to get arrested for helping the Avatar so I thought it was best to leave her out of it," She says, carefully skipping her father and hoping that Bato would notice the intentional omission but he just raises an eyebrow at her. 

"And your father?" Bato asks and Sokka gives Saiya a soft look while Katara touches her mother's necklace.

"He was executed by the Fire Lord," Saiya says simply, trying to keep her voice from wavering. Instantly, Bato's glare drops, and his expression softens. 

"I- I'm sorry," He says honestly, "I'm sure he's very proud that you're doing the right thing," he smiles kindly at her and she returns the smile before Bato looks between the three of them, "I'm sure all of your parents are incredibly proud of what you all are doing." The four of them share a heartwarming moment only to be broken by the rustling of the door.

"Hey everyone! Sorry I was gone so long!" Aang says quickly, sitting down next to Saiya.

"Hey, Aang, I didn't notice you left," Katara says simply and Aang plasters on a grin.

"Yup, but now I'm back!" He says a little too loud and pulls Saiya's bowl away from her, "Sure could go for some delicious sea prunes!" He says cheerily before shoveling the sea prunes into his mouth. The four share a nervous glance before continuing a light conversation, deciding to talk about Aang's behavior later. Later turned into that night and they all quickly forgot to bring it up, already setting out their bedspreads and laying down for the night. 

The next day Bato takes them down to the ship, continuing to share stories about his past as Katara and Sokka ask rapid-fire questions. Saiya asks a few questions herself, gaining confidence after her heart to heart with Bato that night, and to her delight, he answers them genuinely. She notices Aang trailing even further behind than yesterday, but decides it's for the best to not ask him about it in front of everyone else. Eventually, they reach the boat and Bato puts a hand onto the side of it where there's a large scar.

"This ship is sentimental to me. It was built by my father." Bato explains and the siblings and Saiya are too enraptured to notice Aang airbending some ostrich horse footprints away. 

"Is this the boat he took you ice dodging in?" Sokka asks and Bato's face fills with pride.

"Yep! It's got the scar to prove it!" Bato chuckles as he pats the scar and Saiya leans in to inspect it, "How 'bout you Sokka? You must have some good stories from your first time ice dodging." Bato asks but Sokka's face drops and Katara lightly puts a hand on his shoulder.

"He never got to go. Dad left before he was old enough." Katara says glumly and Saiya rests her hand on Sokka's other shoulder, to which he looks up and gives her a half-smile. 

"What's ice dodge?" Aang interjects.

"It's a rite of passage for young Water Tribe members. When you turn fourteen, your dad takes you-" Bato starts to explain but he cuts himself off before a smile lifts on his face, "You know what? You're about to find out!" Bato starts to ready the ship and Sokka lights up almost immediately. The group works to get the boat out into the water before Katara waterbends them up onto the ship. 

"Ice dodging is a ceremonial test of wisdom, bravery, and trust," Bato explains, "In our village, ice dodging was done by weaving a boat through a field of icebergs." Saiya cocks a brow and looks to the others who are just as confused. 

"How are we supposed to ice dodge without ice?" Sokka asks and Bato smirks.

"You'll be dodging those," Bato points to a gathering of tall pointed rocks and the four of them gulp, "Sokka, you steer and call the shots, lead wisely. Katara, you secure the mainsail. Saiya, you go to the helm and keep en eye out for anything Sokka misses. Aang, you control the jib. Without your steady hand, we all go down. Your position is about trust." Bato sends Aang a reassuring smile and Saiya looks to Aang only to see him sweating buckets.

"I know that. Why wouldn't I know that?" Aang crosses his arms and looks away, but quickly glances back to Bato, "I'm the Avatar; I know about trust!" He reassures and the siblings and Saiya share a concerned look but Bato carries on.

"For this is to be done right, I cannot help," Bato sits down at the front of the ship by Saiya, "You pass or fail on your own." He says and Sokka nods, determination running between the four of them. The star is rocky, with Aang unsure of the terminology. Saiya only has to yell out once to Sokka, pointing out a small rock that was hard to see close by the boat. Sokka leads them smoothly though the spikes before coming up to an imposing one, at least twice the high of all the other spikes. Bato reassures Sokka that he can stop but the gang pushes forward, using Katara and Aang's bending to help push them over the spike. Bato gasps in shock amazed that they actually cleared the gap, before turning to Sokka with a proud smile. Confidence radiates off of Sokka and the other three share a proud look as well, though Aang still looks rather nervous. Sokka steers them to shore where they dock and hop off. Bato commands them to wait by the boat and quickly he comes back with a small container of dark purple paste.

"The spirits of water bear witness to these marks," Bato announces, "For Sokka, the Mark of the Wise. The same mark your father earned," Bato wipes the symbol on Sokka's forehead and moves to Katara, "For Katara, the Mark of the Brave. Your courage inspires us," She smiles and he turns to Saiya, "The position I gave you wasn't a traditional one, but instead of proving yourself to the spirits you proved yourself to the Water Tribes. That our nations don't have to be so divided," Bato said and Saiya gave him a soft smile before bowing deeply. Then Bato turns to Aang who's still looking nervous.

"And for Aang, the Mark of the Trusted. You are now an honorary member of the Water Tribe." He announces but Aang just looks to the floor.

"I can't." He states and the others share a confused look.

"Of course you can!" Katara encourages but Aang shakes his head.

"No, you can't trust me," Aang says and rubs the paste off of his forehead.

"What are you talking about, Aang?" Saiya asks, concerned.

"A messenger gave this to me for Bato," Aang pulls out a piece of parchment that Katara takes from him, "You have to understand. I was afraid you would-" Aang starts to explain but as Sokka leans over to look at the paper he gasps.

"This is the map to our father! You had it the whole time? How could you?!" Sokka demands angrily and Katara gives Aang a betrayed look. Aang simply shrugs his shoulders. "Well, you can go to the North Pole on your own. I'm going to find Dad!" Sokka announces and Bato and Saiya both gasp lightly. 

"Sokka I think you should-" Bato reaches out to Sokka but he pushes past him.

"Katara are you with me?" Sokka asks and Katara looks between Aang and Saiya to her brother before looking down.

"I'm with you Sokka." She says blankly and Saiya's shoulder droop. While she can't blame them, she knows it will still take a toll on Aang. They head back to the Abbey in silence, Saiya walking with Aang as he hangs his head. She puts a hand on his shoulder in comfort but he looks up to her with guilty eyes before shaking his head and shrugging off her hand. They arrive at the abbey quickly and pack their things, Sokka and Katara making their own traveling packs while Saiya and Aang put their belongings on Appa. 

"Good luck." Katara wishes with a pang of sadness and Saiya hugs both her and Sokka. 

"Okay, you too," Aang says, finishing packing up.

"You could come with us." Sokka offers, putting a hand around Saiya's wrist but she shakes her head.

"I have no clue how Aang would find another firebending teacher," She says sadly and Sokka's eyes drop in defeat, "You guys go on, we can meet up again sometime," Saiya promises and hugs them one last time before hopping onto Appa. The two walk out as Aang glances back and watches the siblings leave in the other direction. 

"I'm an idiot, Saiya," Aang says glumly and Saiya wraps an arm around his shoulders.

"I'm not saying what you did was right, but I can see why you did it," Saiya says, not wanting to condemn his actions but understanding where he's coming from. She wonders how she would've felt if it was a map to her brother, and Aang hid that from her. Would she leave Aang to find Liang? While Aang can find another waterbending teacher, Saiya has her doubts about finding another firebending teacher. Maybe she could use her father's connections with that organization to find him a teacher. The white lotus? She couldn't remember, lost deep in her thoughts as the two traveled on. Aang stops at the Water Tribe ship and Saiya sits next to him, letting him lean into her for comfort.

"I can't believe I hid that from them..." Aang mutters and Saiya simply rubs his shoulder in comfort, unsure of what to say. She doesn't have to think much longer, however, as one of the sisters from the abbey runs towards them.

"Avatar, you must leave!" She begs and Aang rolls his eyes.

"Okay, I get it! Everyone wants me gone!" Aang bickers and gets up to start Appa but Saiya can hear the fear in the sister's voice.

"What is it? What happened?" Saiya asks and the sister wrings her hands.

"A fierce looking woman with a horrible monster and a young man with a scar came to the abbey searching for you!" The nun tells them and the two snap their heads up.

"Zuko," They say in unison. 

"The beast was using the scent of a necklace to follow you!" The nun tells them and Saiya gasps.

"Katara!" Saiya yells and sits down onto Appa's saddle, ready to fly back to the abbey. Aang takes the reins and flies Appa back to the abbey just as they spot a large shirshu breaking down the gates. On the saddle is Zuko, his uncle, and a woman in all black along with Katara and Sokka. Aang flies Appa over their heads to make the shirshu lean up to see them, knocking their riders off it's back. Katara and Sokka yell out for them as they hop down. Aang takes off to fight Zuko and Saiya focuses on the woman in all black. 

"Oh, so you were the girlfriend? Not the brunette over there?" June asks and Saiya furrows her brow.

"Girlfriend? What are you on about!" She yells, blasting fire out towards June who gracefully dodges and charges towards Saiya. The two exchanges blows, with Saiya not the best at hand to hand combat but June defenseless against her firebending. 

"Grumpy over there was tracking someone and I assumed it was his ex. Maybe you two broke up and you got with her?" The woman nods her head to Katara whos been dragged out of the fight, along with Sokka, by some nuns.

"What you are even talking about?!" Saiya yells, confused and angry at the same time. Using her confusion to her advantage, June lands a blow right to Saiya's head. Saiya goes flying to the side, skidding to a halt where she can hear Sokka and Katara yell at her to get up. She looks up just in time to see June going to her shirshu, only for the two to be knocked over by a gust of wind from Appa. Confident that June isn't getting up, Saiya charges off to help Aang against Zuko. Aang had just managed to fly off with Katara's necklace and seeing Zuko get ready to run after him again, Saiya interjects. The sends a fire punch his way but he simply blocks it and sends a whip of fire against her. It barely misses her as she feels the heat come a little to close to the side of her face. The two run at each other again, getting closer and closer with each punch before they're only a foot apart.

"Zuko why are you doing this!?" Saiya demands, hurt flashing in her eyes as Zuko looks at her with betrayal. 

"I have to redeem my honor, and the only way to do that is by capturing the Avatar!" Zuko yells back and Saiya manages to make a kick connect with the side of his torso. He yells out in pain and reels to the side, but recovers quickly and sends a fire blast at Saiya. 

"You and I both know it wouldn't work!" Saiya berates and Zuko flinches at the truth, "Nobody knew Aang was alive until a couple of months ago! It was a wild goose squirrel chase, Zuko," Saiya says with a softer tone, "Just leave, you don't need to keep doing this." She reaches a hand out to Zuko and for a split second relief floods Saiya as he takes her hand. Then a second later she's being flipped and sent across the courtyard with a yelp. Her back slams into the side of the well and she curls in on herself. She can't tell what hurts worse, the pain erupting in her upper back, or the realization that Zuko isn't going to be reasoned with. As she curls further in on herself an overwhelming smell hits her and she looks up just in time to see the shirshu lash out, hitting both Zuko and June. Katara smiles at the sight but quickly Saiya catches her eye and her smile drops.

"Saiya!" She hears her friend call out and soon Katara is helping her up and wrapping an arm around her for support. 

"What happened?" Saiya asks and Katara smirks.

"That thing sees with its nose, so we blinded it," Katara gestures to the knocked over perfume jars and Saiya smiles at her ingenuity. Katara helps Saiya over to Appa where Sokka and Aang are already sitting and they take off, waving goodbye to the sisters who are already restraining Zuko and his allies. After they get a decent distance away, Aang glances back nervously.

"So, where are we going?" He asks and Katara smiles.

"We're getting you to the north pole," She says and Aang's eyebrows shoot up.

"Yeah, we've already lost too much time," Sokka says and Saiya smiles lightly as Aang's eyebrows go up even higher.

"Don't you want to see your father?" Aang asks.

"Of course we do, Aang. But, you're our family too," Sokka says and looks to Saiya, "You bother are, and right now, you need us more." Saiya's smile widens and she hugs Sokka and then Katara. 

"I wish I could give you a little piece of home, Katara. Something to remind you...." Aang starts and Saiya chuckles lightly, remembering the necklace Aang had managed to sneak back.

"I'll be okay," Katara reassures but Aang just continues the act.

"Still, just a little trinket. Maybe something like..." Aang trails off dramatically before pulling the necklace out from behind his back, "this?" 

"My necklace!" Katara exclaims, "Aang how'd you get this!?" She asks and Aang smiles cheekily.

"Zuko asked me to be _sure_ I got it to you." He says sarcastically and the siblings laugh but Saiya pauses at the name. 

"Aw, that's so sweet of Zuko. Could you give him a kiss for me when you see him?" Katara jokes and lightly kisses on the cheek, to which Aang blushes violently.

"Sure," Aang agrees, putting a hand to his face. They all laugh, but Saiya glances back to the direction they came from, the abbey now long gone. The image of Zuko's face fills her vision, with no remorse in his eyes as he threw her aside to pursue Aang. Before, she had hoped that he would snap out of whatever this angry persona was and go back to being her friend. Now, she realizes disconsolately, she's sure that there's no redemption for him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW, this took forever to write, for some reason I just couldn't get into writing this chapter. With that being said, I'm doing a sleep study so my schedule will be completely free for the next two weeks so hopefully lots of updates! There are only 3 more chapters left in this book!
> 
> Two things to note:  
> 1) I made some edits throughout the story. You might've noticed the name change and the fact that I made this part of a series now! I also went through and made some minor changes to the previous chapters. No drastic changes to the story just fixed the flow and also edited the first chapter a little because I felt like Sokka was a little too okay with Saiya joining considering his distrust of the Fire Nation. I made it so there are no scene cuts (aka the hyphen lines) unless it's a drastic change in perspective or a flashback/dream.   
> 2) I want to reiterate that I don't plan on writing every single chapter! If it isn't very plot-relevant or I can't put Saiya into the story in a meaningfully or interesting way I don't plan on writing it.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Feedback, comments, and kudos are greatly appreciated!! <3


	8. The Deserter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deciding to explore the local fire festival the gang finds a firebending master, but while Aang is excited to find a true master Saiya is unsure she agrees with his philosophies.

The four walk through the forest in silence. The past few days have been uneventful and continuous flying so they decided to stop to let Appa rest and restock their food. They'd been walking for miles before a small road sign comes into view. 

"This should give us a good idea of what's around here," Katara points out and walks up to the small map on the board. 

"See if you can find a menu, I'm starving!" Sokka complains and Katara and Saiya roll their eyes.

"I bet we'll find something to eat here, at the Fire Day's Festival," Aang suggests, pointing to the small symbol on the map, "Fire Nation cultural exhibits, jugglers, benders, magicians..." Aang reads off, before turning to Saiya, "do you think there would be firebending masters here?" he asks and Saiya thinks. 

"I haven't been to a Fire Day event in a long time, but there are normally small demonstrations of advance techniques that might be nice to check out!" Saiya lights up, excited to get a slice of home, "I used to go all the time, I loved them when I was a kid!" 

"We might want to rethink, look," Sokka points at the poster with Aang's face on it

"Hey, a poster of me!" Aang says lightly but the others stomach sink.

"A _wanted_ poster, Aang, this isn't good!" Katara says, tearing down the poster.

"Saiya admitted it herself, she's not a master, so this might be my only chance to see a master up close!" Aang suggests but Saiya furrows her eyebrows at the statement. Thats right, she thinks, I'm not a master, so why am I still hanging around when I can't teach Aang? The insecurity hangs in the back of her mind as Sokka tears up the poster.

"I guess we could go check it out..." Katara starts, swayed by Aang's puppy dog eyes and Sokka throws his hands in the air.

"What? You wanna walk into a Fire Nation town where they're all fired-up with their... you know, fire?" Sokka accuses and Saiya grumbles at him.

"That's really not how that works..." She says quietly but the others ignore it. 

"We'll wear disguises and if it looks like trouble, we'll leave," Katara suggests.

"For Fire Day everybody wears different masks or costumes to 'scare away the cold'," Saiya tells them, "I can go in and find a vendor and get us some masks, we won't be out of place with a disguise but it'll hide out faces!" Sokka rubs his chin at this, but the others have already taken off so he just follows behind shortly after.

"Yeah! Because we always leave before we get into trouble..." He mumbles to himself and catches up with the others. Aang orders Appa and Momo to stay out in the forest and they head into the town. As Aang, Katara, and Sokka wait on the outskirts of the festival Saiya heads in and buys them four masks. She hands Sokka the frowning face, Aang the smiling face, Katara the woman with makeup, and she keeps the red demon mask for herself. As they explore around, she and Sokka find a vendor selling food.

"What do you have?" Sokka asks and the man pulls out a full bowl of flakes.

"Flaming fire flakes! Best in town!" He advertises and both of their faces light up. Sokka passes the man some money and the two shovel it into their faces. Saiya revels in the familiar spicy taste and smirks when she sees the realization hit Sokka.

"HOT!" He screams and tries to rub the taste off his tongue while the rest of them watch on and laugh, "How are you eating these?!" He demands and Saiya puts more on her tongue. 

"They're not even the spiciest fire flakes I've had, you're being overdramatic," She testifies and Katara laughs.

"What? Sokka being overdramatic?" She asks sarcastically and the three of them laugh while Sokka just glares at them. Their laughter is interrupted when a booming voice coming from their left catches their attention. They walk over to see a small crowd of children watching a puppet show. In it, the Fire Lord is surrounded by Earth Kingdom soldiers but turns around and the puppetmaster uses his firebending to burn all the soldier puppets to a crisp. The four of them tense, uneasy from the display. 

"I thought you said you loved the Fire Day festivals..." Sokka asks nervously and Saiya cringes. 

"I don't remember them being so...." She trails off, gesturing to the display. Trying to get away from the show, Aang drags the group away to the large crowd gathered around a stage. 

"Aang where are you going?" Katara asks.

"I don't know, but there's a big crowd so it must be good!" Aang says but Sokka and Saiya tense.

"Knowing the Fire Nation, it's probably an execution," Sokka says without thinking and they all pause, not looking to Saiya. She just sighs.

"He's not necessarily wrong..." Saiya says with an uncomfortable shrug and the group ignores the tension in favor of moving closer to the stage. They look up to the performance and are stunned. The performer is manipulating streams of flames into beautiful dragons. They collide into a brilliant display of light and Aang and Saiya gasp.

"I gotta learn that trick..." They say in unison and the crowd erupts into claps as the performer bows deeply.

"Thank you! For my next trick, I need a volunteer from the audience!" The performer asks and Aang tries to volunteer himself but Sokka stops him. The bickering catches the performer's attention and he asks for Katara, who decides it would be more suspicious to reject than just go with the performance. The performer ties Katara to a chair and pretends to be restraining a dragon made of fire. He claims he's losing control of the dragon, and Saiya chuckles, remembering seeing this exact performance when she was younger. Her father used it as a teaching opportunity to tell her that a true firebender never loses control of their flame. Lost in her memories, Saiya doesn't realize Aang fell for the trick and he bursts onto the stage, trying to save Katara. 

"Aang! What are you doing!?" She demands as he airbends the fire away, "Aang!" She yells as the crowd gasps, mumbles of 'the Avatar' and 'an airbender?' fill the crowd. Sokka and Saiya scurry up the stage to stand with Aang and Katara, Aang having lost his mask now. 

"Hey! That kid's the Avatar!" Someone within the crowd announces and Sokka grabs Saiya and Aang's hands, Aang grabbing Katara's. 

"I think it's time to go!" Sokka tells them as another man climbs onto the stage.

"Follow me! I can get you outta here!" The man tells them and takes off. With no better choice, the gang follows him through turns and alleyways. Aang repeatedly blows his bison whistle but they all highly doubt Appa can hear it this far with all the commotion. Through twists and turns, they're finally cornered in an alleyway, a crate of fireworks behind them. Just as they ready to put up a fight, Appa comes crashing down and they pile onto his saddle with Aang taking the reins. The man who helped them escape lights a bomb and throws it into the crate of fireworks, giving them cover to escape.

"Nice touch with the fireworks!" Aang congratulates and the man looks proud.

"You really know your explosives," Sokka says with an impressed tone, and the man smiles at him.

"I'm familiar," He suggests and something clicks in Sokka's mind.

"You're a Fire Nation soldier!" Sokka accuses and the man scowls.

" _Was_ , the name's Chey," Chey corrects and Saiya beams.

"Where were you stationed?" She demands.

"Just south of the Northern Air Temples, north of Ba Sing Se," Chey says.

"Did you know a Liang Kowano?" She asks and Chey ponders the question for a moment.

"Yeah I think I've heard of him, his battalion went missing a few months ago," At this, Saiya's eyes widen with grief, "but I've heard rumors they all went AWOL and fled to Ba Sing Se," Chey suggests and hope reignites in Saiya's heart. 

"You'll find him," Katara whispers, "We can try and find him when we go to the Earth Kingdom," Saiya smiles back at Katara as Chey continues with his story. 

"I serve a man. More than a man really, he's a myth, but he's real, a living legend, Jeong Jeong the Deserter," The group glances at Saiya and she shrugs, not knowing who he's talking about, "He was a Fire Nation general, or wait, was he an admiral?" Chey ponders for a moment but Sokka rolls his eyes.

"He was very highly ranked, we get it," Sokka groans, and Chey shakes his head to clear his thoughts.

"Yeah! Way up there! But he couldn't take the madness anymore. He's the first person ever to leave the army - and live," Saiya cringes at that, hoping Liang escaped as well and they just don't know, "I'm the second, but you don't get to be a legend for that. That's okay though. Jeong Jeong's a firebending genius. Some say he's mad - but he's not! He's enlightened," Chey explains and Aang lights up.

"We've gotta go see him! He can train us!" Aang beams to Saiya and she lights up as well. It would be amazing to learn some actual firebending from a real master!

"We're _not_ gonna go find some _crazy_ firebender!" Sokka snaps and Aang and Saiya shrink, Chey just looks upset.

"He's not crazy! He's a genius!" Chey defends, "And he's the perfect person to train the Avatar! That's why I followed you into the festival."

"Look, thanks for the help, but we're leaving for the North Pole in the morning." Sokka insists but Saiya puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Sokka, I'm not a master by any means. Aang and I could both use a real firebending master, and when is the next time you think we'll find a firebending master willing to train us?" Saiya asks and Sokka sighs. 

"It can't hurt just to talk to him," Katara sides with Saiya, and Sokka throws his hands in annoyance.

"And that's what we said about the festival! Why does no one ever listen to me?" Sokka demands. As he turns his head to pout in silence he almost walks face-first into a spear. Suddenly the five of them find themselves surrounded by men wielding spears and shields. 

"Don't move!" One of the men demands. They escort the group to a small settlement, still pointing their spears at them.

"Jeong Jeong told you not to look for the Avatar!" The same man demands and Chey shrugs.

"Wait you know these guys!" Sokka asks.

"Oh yeh! Lin Yee's an old buddy! Right, Lin Yee?" Chey asks and gets a spear poked at him in return.

"Shut up! And keep moving!" Lin Yee demands. They walk further into the forest and come to a small cottage, "Go on, he sees only you," Lin Yee tells them.

"Is that where Jeong Jeong is? I need to talk to him right away!" Aang says and starts to go towards the cottage but a spear stops him.

"No! You wait there," Lin Yee tells Aang and then pushes Chey forwards, "Go, now!" He demands and Chey starts to walk towards the cottage.

"Don't worry! Everything'll be fine. He's a great man," Chey insists but the gang doesn't feel any better. The entire evening passes before Chey shows any sign of coming out, so the gang sets up camp and waits for him. They're suddenly woken up by the noise of the cottage doors and realize that they had all fallen asleep. After processing what happened, they all stand up to meet Chey who has a disappointment look on his face.

"What happened? Can I see Jeong Jeong now?" Aang asks and Chey looks even more disappointed. Saiya droops her head, realizing it isn't likely she'll get a find a firebending master today. Katara puts a hand kindly on her shoulder. 

"We'll find you a master, eventually," She soothes and Saiya gives her a soft smile. Katara always knew what to say to make her feel better.

"He won't see you. He's very angry that I brought you here. He wants you to leave immediately." Chey informs them and while Katara, Saiya, and Aang look upset Sokka stretches with a grin. 

"Finally, let's hit the road!" Sokka says, starting to pack up, but Aang stands his ground.

"Why won't he see me?" Aang demands and Chey shakes his head.

"He says you're not ready. Says you haven't mastered waterbending and earthbending yet." Chey tells them and they all gasp.

"How can he even know that?!" Saiya asks.

"He saw the way you walked into camp," Chey says and then leans in to whisper, "He could tell," Aang groans in frustration and surges forward.

"I'm going in, anyway!" Aang demands and Saiya follows suit.

"I'm coming too," She says, "He's an ex-admiral, general, whatever. He was high up, he might have known my dad, we can use that to our advantage," Saiya suggests and Aang nods, determined. The two walk to the cottage and open the door which has another layer of curtains behind it. They look to each other and Saiya gives Aang a nod of encouragement to spur him on. He pushes back the curtains to find a man sitting in a ring of candles, meditating. When the two walk in Saiya can feel the intensity of the flame grow. 

"Get. Out." Jeong Jeong demands and Aang's shoulders slouch slightly but Saiya puts a reassuring hand on his back and encourages him.

"Master, I need to learn firebending," Aang tells him, and Saiya's heart races at the energy in the air.

"Only a fool seeks his own destruction," Jeong Jeong says vaguely and while Saiya questions the meaning Aang walks closer.

"I'm the Avatar, it's my destiny to-" Aang starts but Jeong Jeong snaps his eyes open and glares at Aang. The candle flames shoot up in his anger and Saiya tenses further.

"Destiny? What would a boy know of destiny?" Jeong Jeong yells and Aang takes a step back to stand next to Saiya, "If a fish lives its whole life in this river, does he know the river's destiny? No! Only that it runs on and on out of his control! He may follow where it flows, but he cannot see the end," Jeong Jeong continues and Saiya finds herself shaking slightly, "He cannot imagine the ocean," Jeong Jeong finishes quietly and Saiya takes a few deep breaths to steady her heart.

"It's the Avatar's duty to master all of the bending disciplines," Saiya tells Jeong Jeong, who only just now seems to notice she's in the room with them.

"And what do you know of the Avatar's duty? I was unaware there were _two_ Avatars," Jeong Jeong sneers sarcastically and Saiya flinches, "To master the bending disciplines, you must first master discipline itself. But both of you have no interest in this, so I have no interest in you! Now, get out!" Jeong Jeong demands and Saiya's resolve hardens along with Aang's.

"Please, I have to learn. This could be my only chance!" Aang begs, walking closer to him, and Jeong Jeong snaps.

"Are you deaf? How can I teach you if you refuse to listen? Before learning firebending you must learn water and earth. Water is cool and soothing, earth is steady and stable, but fire, fire is alive! It breathes, it grows. Without the bender, a rock will not throw itself! But fire will spread and destroy everything in its path if one does not have the will to control it! That is its destiny!" At the thought of this, Saiya curls in on herself, unnerved by the idea of losing control, "You are not ready! You are too weak!" Jeong Jeong yells, candle flames exploding before snuffing out, and a heavy air fills the room. One single candle lights itself in front of Jeong Jeong and Saiya looks up from her arms that she used to shield herself from the candles, gasping. In front of Jeong Jeong, Aang has disappeared, and in his place is who she can only assume is Avatar Roku. 

"You think I am weak?" His silent yet booming voice asks and Jeong Jeong looks on in awe. 

"Avatar Roku!" Jeong Jeong bows deeply but Saiya is frozen in place, "No, No! I did not mean that!"

I have mastered the elements a thousand times in a thousand lifetimes," Saiya feels the air slowly lift around them, no longer so oppressive, "Now, I must do it once again. You will teach the Avatar firebending." Roku demands as the tree that somehow appeared behind Jeong Jeong ignites.

"Yes, yes, I will teach you!" Jeong Jeong promises and as the heavy air in the room dissipates Aang reappears. 

"Really? That's great!" Aang cheers and Saiya still looks on in awe at him, while Jeong Jeong shakes his head, "I'm gonna go tell Katara and Sokka!" Aang tells Saiya, who nods with a fake smile as she watches him exit. She turns back to Jeong Jeong, unsure of what to say. The two stare at each other in silence for a long time. 

"With teaching the Avatar, are you willing to teach me as well?" She asks quietly. Jeong Jeong closes his eyes, brows furrowed.

"I am afraid I will ruin you." Jeong Jeong says wisely but Saiya just looks at him, brows furrowed.

"I already know some basics, I took lessons for a while." She tells him and he cocks an eyebrow at her.

"Then why are you not teaching the Avatar?" He asks.

"I'm not a master, I never got to finish my learnings." She supplies and he nods, staring at her again. They stay in silence for a while, and Saiya takes it her cue to leave but Jeong Jeong stops her.

"I will test you tomorrow, to see if you have the discipline to be a true firebender." He says vaguely and Saiya decides it's best not to question him, so she heads back outside where the others have already set up for the night. Aang asks her what they talked about and she tells him a summary of what Jeong Jeong had said. That he's going to test her to see if he'll train her, and that she's not a master. Aang takes this as a sufficient answer and the four of them drift off to sleep. 

The next morning Sokka spends fishing and Katara practices her waterbending. Jeong Jeong works on poses with Aang, leaving Saiya to sit on the side of the river and watch them. Aang's poses are okay, it helps that Saiya had practiced with him a bit before, but Jeong Jeong is ruthless.

"Widen your stance," He demands and Aang widens his leg an inch, "Wider! Bend your knees. Now, concentrate," Aang closes his eyes and focuses deeply. At least, deep enough for Jeong Jeong's liking, "Good, good!" He praises and Aang cracks an eye open.

"Wait! What do I do now?" He asks and Jeong Jeong glares at him.

"Silence! Talking is not concentrating! Look at your friend, is she talking?" He gestures to Katara who's quietly practicing, "Or your other friend, watching patiently," He gestures to Saiya who gives Aang a small wave, "Even that oaf knows to concentrate on what he's doing!" Jeong Jeong mocks and Sokka snaps his head towards them.

"Hey!" He yells but Jeong Jeong doesn't pay him any mind.

"But what am I concentrating on?" Aang asks and Saiya decides to pipe in.

"Remember when I had you feel the heat of the flame I made?" She asks and as Aang nods, Jeong Jeong gives her a questioning look. Nervous that she overstepped, she shakes her head, "Uh...never mind, listen to Jeong Jeong." She says but Jeong Jeong smirks.

"No, continue." He says and Saiya gulps.

"Um....okay....well, uh, I had you concentrate on the heat of the fire because the heat is what kept it alive. What keeps us alive?" She asks and Aang gets out of his pose to look at her with a puzzled look.

"Ummm....air, and water and food?" He supplies and Saiya shakes her head.

"Get back in position!" Jeong Jeong demands and Aang reassumes his pose."

"No, in the context of heat," She says but Aang still looks confused so she continues, "It's the sun. The sun keeps us warm, and it's also what gives firebenders their energy. It's why firebenders can always make their own fire, from the heat that's always present in the air, but it's harder in cold environments," Saiya shares and in the corner of her eye she can see Jeong Jeong looking almost proud, "Concentrate on the natural heat of the world, and how it's not too hot as to scorch the Earth but not too cold that we freeze." She finishes and Jeong Jeong nods. Aang seemingly concentrates on this for a moment before opening his eyes again, looking at Jeong Jeong.

"So when do I get to make some fire?" Aang asks and Jeong Jeong rolls his eyes.

"Concentrate!" He yells and the other three giggles at Aang being reprimanded. Saiya goes to talk with Katara, seeing as she's done with her practice for now.

"Aren't you gonna train with Aang and Jeong Jeong?" Katara asks, stretching her arms. 

"He said he's going to test me before he decides if he'll train me or not, so I'm waiting for him to tell me when that test is," Saiya tells her, and Katara shrugs. The two girls sit and chat for a bit, not noticing when Jeong Jeong and Aang head up the mountain. Minutes later, Jeong Jeong walks up to the two of them. He looks at Saiya and nods his head towards his cottage, not waiting for a response before heading inside of it. Katara gives Saiya a bewildered look but Saiya shrugs at her and gets up to follow Jeong Jeong. She heads inside, where Jeong Jeong is sitting around the candles from the night before, though this time they're unlit, and he's sitting in a meditative pose. Saiya instinctively mirrors his pose in front of him, the candles in between them. They sit in silence for a beat before Jeong Jeong lights the candles with the flick of his hand.

"You said you've had previous firebending training?" He asks and Saiya nods, "From whom?"

"I had a teacher when I was younger, but he only taught me discipline and positioning. It was my brother who taught me actual techniques and combat," She tells him and he nods, then looks to the candles. 

"Then you're aware of the candle meditation?" He asks and she nods, "then do so." She closes her eyes and begins meditating, feeling the candle flames shrink and grow. They sit in silence for so long that Saiya assumes Jeong Jeong left, and she jumps when he begins speaking. 

"I see you were taught good control, that is the most important skill a firebender can have," he tells her and she feels a proud feeling bloom in her chest, "firebending is a curse that few can truly live with," at this Saiya furrows her eyebrows and the flames waver slightly, but Jeong Jeong continues, "I will teach you, let's go outside," He says and Saiya opens her eyes, a large smile plastered on her face. She gives a strong breath out and with that, the flames snuffed out. The two walk outside and go further down the river to a large clearing of rocks and stone. 

"I practice here, as to not burn the nature around me," Jeong Jeong tells Saiya and she nods, "fire is the most destructive of the elements," Saiya once again feels her brow furrowing at Jeong Jeong's statement and this time she speaks up.

"Not necessarily," She says and Jeong Jeong simply stares at her. Sensing that he wants her to explain, she carries on, "My friends and I once had to stop a guy from manipulating Katara into flooding a village. Water could have killed over one hundred people, and it completely destroyed their town," Saiya shares and Jeong Jeong looks off over the river, "Sokka told me that Aang got so upset one time that he surrounded himself in a ball of air and almost blew him and Katara off a mountain. Everything can be destructive, fire is just the one used for destruction more often than not." Saiya stares at Jeong Jeong for a reaction but he continues to look over the river. They stand in silence for a beat before Jeong Jeong shakes his head. 

"Let's begin," Jeong Jeong says, no emotion in his voice indicating how he feels about what Saiya said. She takes this as a blessing, considering he could have refused to train her now that he knew she didn't agree with his philosophy. He shows her through fighting techniques and corrects her positioning. The blasts of fire spread out over the water, extinguishing almost instantly. They go through a multitude of moves, Saiya excelling immediately. 

"It's a shame you never got firebending training from a young age, you would have done very well," Jeong Jeong praises and Saiya smiles, pride filling her. The last time she truly got to work on her firebending was with her brother before he left. Since then it's been to teach Aang or for defense and offense. As they continue to work through more poses, Jeong Jeong looks up at the sound of footsteps to see Aang approaching. 

"What are you doing here? I did not tell you to stop" He chastises and anger fills Aang's face when he sees Saiya practicing with real fire, not just meditating.

"I've been breathing for hours!" Aang demands.

"And you want to stop breathing?" Jeong Jeong scoffs. 

I want you to stop wasting my time! I already know how to squat and breathe and feel the sun!" He gestures to Saiya who's standing still, unaware of what to do, "I wanna know how to shoot fire out of my fingertips! You're teaching Saiya a bunch of cool moves, why can't I do that!?" Aang demands and annoyance rolls off Jeong Jeong.

"I had a pupil once who had no interest in learning discipline. He was only concerned with the power of fire - how he could use it to destroy his opponents and wipe out the obstacles in his path, but fire is a horrible burden to bear. Its nature is to consume and without control, it destroys everything around it," Jeong Jeong explains and Saiya cringes at his mentality about firebending, "Saiya is working on 'cool moves' because she's aware of the burden and has already spent her adolescence working on discipline and patience in firebending, which you obviously have no knowledge of! You need to learn restraint, or risk destroying yourself and everything you love." Jeong Jeong says ominously and turns to Saiya, "This concludes today's practice, you may leave," he then turns to Aang, "you may _both_ leave." He says bitterly and both Saiya and Aang wince at his tone. Jeong Jeong walks back inside his cottage and Aang slouches. 

"This is ridiculous, you weren't this mean!" Aang throws his hands up and Saiya puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Aang you have to see where he's coming from! I spent almost all of my childhood firebending training working exclusively on restraint and patience," Saiya looks to the cottage where Jeong Jeong has already gone inside, "I don't agree with the fact that Jeong Jeong think's fire is more destructive than the other elements, but he's right in the fact that it's the one that's easiest to be destructive with. With water and air you can splash someone or send them a light breeze easier than you can drown them or blow them away," the two of them start walking back to the cottage and their small camp, "with fire, it's the opposite. It's much easier to just burn someone than to lightly warm them. The amount of control it takes to just warm my hands is insane!" Saiya jokes but Aang still looks downcast. She pulls Aang so they're facing each other, "Aang, I'm sure you'll be a great firebender, but you need to focus on making sure you're a responsible one, not some crazy badass fighter." Seeing that this comment got a small smile from Aang, she hugs him which he returns tightly.

"Thank you, Saiya," He mumbles into her shoulder.

"Of course," Saiya smiles, and the two sit down to have dinner that Sokka made up. As she drifts off to sleep, Saiya thinks back on Jeong Jeong's view of firebending and wonders if there's anything she can do to convince him firebending isn't such a curse. 

Saiya stretched, woken up by the early morning sun. She looks around and sees both Katara and Sokka still asleep, and Aang meditating in front of Jeong Jeong's door. She wakes up Sokka and Katara, and they eat the food they gathered from the village as they overhear Aang's conversation with Jeong Jeong.

"Do you think he's actually gonna be patient?" Sokka asks Saiya and she shrugs.

"I hope so, I don't want him hurting himself," Saiya tells them and they finish their food. Sokka goes back to his boulder and grabs his fishing rod, setting up his fishing spot as Katara and Saiya go and watch Aang. Just as they reach him and Jeong Jeong a man from the village runs up to them.

"Master, there's trouble!" The man yells and Jeong Jeong curses under his breath. The small smoldering leaf in Aang's hands burns fast as he looks around.

"What? What's going on?!" Aang asks but Jeong Jeong waves him off.

"Concentrate on your leaf!" Jeong Jeong commands before running off with the man who came to warn them. Aang grumbles as he looks down at his leaf.

"This is the _worst_ firebending instruction ever! All he does is leave me for hours to concentrate or breathe!" Aang argues.

"I'm sure there's a reason he's doing this, right Saiya?" Katara asks and Saiya nods.

"Yeah, remember what I told you last night Aang?" Saiya reminds Aang but he just focuses back on his leaf. For a second, Saiya thinks he's listened to her and is concentrating, but suddenly the leaf erupts into a small ball of flame. Katara gasps next to her and Aang smiles gleefully. 

"I did it! I made fire!" Aang cheers but worry drips off of Katara and Saiya.

"Aang, that's great, but you should take it slow" Katara begs but Aang continues to entertain himself with the fire. 

"Now _that's_ some firebending!" He congratulates himself as he tosses the ball around.

"Aang you need to stop, you're going to hurt someone!" Saiya chastizes but Aang doesn't pay attention. 

"I wonder how that juggler did it?" Aang questions to himself before throwing his hands out around him. Saiya gasps and ducks below the radius of the flame but Katara isn't as lucky and throws her hands up to protect her face. The flames wrap around her palms and she yells out in pain, getting Sokka's attention. He jumps off of his boulder and runs to his sister, where Saiya is already holding Katara's shoulders as she shakes. Sokka whips his head around to face Aang, furious.

"Katara I'm sorry!" Aang pleads.

"What did you do!?" Sokka demands as Katara cries harder and Saiya tries to soothe her.

"It's okay Katara just breathe," Saiya says in a calming tone, but her voice wavers as she sees just how severely Katara's palms are burned.

"I'm sorry! It was an accident!" Aang begs again but Sokka just tackles him, pinning him to the ground.

"I told you we shouldn't mess around with this! Look what you did! _You burned my sister_!" Sokka yells and Katara pushes Saiya off as she clutches her hands to her chest and runs further up the river.

"Katara!" Saiya yells after her but she's already gone. Saiya whips her head to Aang, "I warned you, Aang!" Saiya snaps and guilt floods Aang's eyes even further. Jeong Jeong runs in and Sokka turns to face him.

"He burned Katara, this is all your fault!" Sokka yells and Jeong Jeong sighs.

"I know," Jeong Jeong says solemnly, "Now pack your things. You must leave immediately!" He demands and Sokka rushes to pack up their belongings when Jeong Jeong turns to Saiya, who's starting to head off in Katara's direction, "There are two books in a chest in the back of the cottage, grab them and take them with you. They'll teach you in my absence," Jeong Jeong puts a hand on her shoulder, "You see now, what I was trying to tell you. Fire never helps, only hurts," Jeong Jeong asks and Saiya lowers her head before nodding.

"Thank you for everything, master." She says quietly, bowing deeply, but Jeong Jeong says nothing and heads off in Katara's direction. Saiya goes inside the cottage to grab the books Jeong Jeong mentioned, Aang following her. She finds the books easily, being some of the only belongings in the small cottage, and turns to Aang.

"We can use these to learn firebending later, without Jeong Jeong," Saiya tells Aang but he just shakes his head.

"No, I'm never firebending again," Aang says, resolute, and Saiya shutters.

"But what about defeating the Fire Lord?" Saiya asks and Aang sits down in the middle of the cottage, curling in on himself.

"I'll never firebend," Aang says simply and Saiya just looks at him for a second before heading outside to help Sokka pack. When she gets outside she spots Katara.

"Katara!" She yells, catching her attention, "your hands?" Katara lifts her hands up to show them completely burn free and Saiya gasps.

"I'll tell you later, Zhao's here," Saiya scowls at this and Katara glances behind her at the cabin, "is he...?" Katara leaves the question open-ended but Saiya knows what she's asking and nods before jogging over to help Sokka put the last few things in the saddle. They climb up the saddle as Katara comes up behind them and climbs up as well.

"Where's Aang?" Sokka asks.

"He went upstream to fight Zhao, let's grab him and get out of here," Katara says and Saiya takes the reins and flies Appa off to pick up Aang. They arrive and see Aang standing, facing Zhao as the boats around him burn. 

"Aang!" Saiya yells out and the two look up, "Come on, let's get out of here!" She lowers Appa and Aang starts to climb up before looking around.

"Wait, where's Jeong Jeong?" He asks and Sokka shakes his head.

"He disappeared, the whole village did," He tells Aang as he finally sits down in the saddle and Saiya flies them off. Once they get up in the air and get back on course, Saiya climbs into the saddle where Katara's examining Aang.

"You got burned, here, let me help," She says and has water encase her hands. She sets them over Aang's wound and the water glows as the burn rapidly heals. 

"Wow, that's good water!" Aang jokes and Sokka scowls.

"Since when could you do that?" He asks and Katara shrugs.

"I guess I've always known." She suggests and Sokka scoffs before rambling off the times he's been hurt that Katara didn't heal him. Saiya shifts over to her bag and pulls out the books Jeong Jeong gave her, flipping through them. Katara leans over her shoulder.

"What are those?" She asks.

"They're books on firebending that Jeong Jeong gave me, so Aang and I can continue learning even though we don't have a teacher," Saiya tells them but Aang shivers.

"No." He says simply and they all give him a confused look.

"Aang, I'm okay now, you've learned your lesson. But you need to learn firebending eventually," Katara tells him but he just shakes his head.

"No, I'm never firebending again," Aang says and Saiya shrinks in on herself, remembering what Jeong Jeong told her. 

"Guess you don't need me to teach you anymore," Saiya mumbles just loud enough for Sokka to hear.

"Now you can join me in the 'completely useless side character' department!" Sokka jokes, but the comment makes Saiya's stomach sink. She really is useless now that Aang isn't going to learn firebending anymore. She thinks back to what Chey said about Liang, of his battalion going AWOL and how they're in Ba Sing Se and an idea sparks in Saiya's head. What if she went and found him? She looks at her friends and her heart clenches at the idea of leaving them, but her duty to her family should be more important than running around with the Avatar if she's not useful to them anymore. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished the story outline! Now it's time to grind out some chapters. From the looks of the outline, there's going to be around 35 chapters spanning across 3 works but that's subject to change.
> 
> Feedback is always appreciated, and so are casual comments and kudos! Thank you for reading <3


	9. The Waterbending Master

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saiya contemplates her place on the team after Aang's refusal to learn firebending as Katara battles Pakku's defiance to teach her waterbending. Saiya can't help but notice Pakku is keeping a close eye on her while Sokka asks for girl advice and Aang works towards mastering waterbending.

The flight from the Northern Air Temple seemed endless. Ever since they left Teo and his father after helping them fend back the Fire Nation there's been nothing but water for miles. Food and water weren't a concern as they stocked up on food before they left and Katara and Saiya can work together to purify the water surrounding them, it was boredom that was the problem. Sokka and Aang had resorted to bickering as Saiya zoned out and Katara kept her gaze on the water. Sokka and Aang started up another argument when Saiya finally decides to intervene.

"Why don't we all relax for a bit, alright?" Saiya snaps, fed up with the childish bickering.

"Relaxing is all we've been doing! We've been flying for two days straight!" Sokka argues back and Saiya pinches between her eyes, "And for what? We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe, there's nothing for miles," he gestures around him but none of them need to look out to the water to understand. Katara just gives Saiya an 'it's not worth it' look and Saiya drops the debate, for now. They sit in silence for a beat before the heat of anger dies from Saiya and she's back to shivering. No firebender likes the cold, it's not good for firebending and Saiya's lived at the equator her entire life. Even if she thought to pack warmer clothes, she doesn't own any. She almost asks for Sokka to hand over his parka but decides she's still upset with his attitude so she sticks to shivering. Katara leans up, surveying the water for the millionth time that day when she notices the violent shiver coming from her friend. 

"Are you okay?" Katara asks, drawing the others' attention. The annoyance in Sokka's face is instantly replaced with concern the second he sees just how severely Saiya is shivering. He gets on his knees to reach for his parka.

"Here, the cold doesn't bother me," He picks up the parka and goes to offer it to Saiya but a yell from Aang and a sharp tilt from Appa makes Saiya and Katara grip the saddle and sends Sokka flying, "AANG! Some warning next time!" He yells forward only to see what caused the tilt. A dozen ice spikes are pulled up from the water and more are being formed. The ice manages to catch one of Appa's feet, but his momentum breaks him away. The damage is still done and all of them are sent plummeting into the waters below where they're then brought up and cocooned in ice. The ice makes Saiya feel even worse and the puff of fire she gives is barely visible and can't even begin to melt the ice. She looks to the others as Katara melts the ice away from Appa.

"They're waterbenders, we found the Water Tribe!" Katara cheers as boats surround Appa. Who Saiya can only assume is the general uses the water around him to push his way up to Appa. When he looks at Aang his eyes blow out in shock.

"The Avatar..." He mumbles in awe before turning down to the boats below, "Lower your guards, men, the Avatar has arrived," He announces happily and the remaining ice melts around them as they hear gasps and mumbling from the boats below. 

"It's nice to meet you, my name's Aang!" Aang greets cheerily before gesturing to the rest of them, "These are my friends," Aang introduces them, and Katara steps forward.

"Hi, I'm Katara, and this is my brother, Sokka," Katara says with a wide smile and Sokka gives a short wave, "we're from the Southern Water Tribe," at this the general gasps.

"We haven't had any visits from our sister tribe in years, it's an honor," he smiles widely before turning to Saiya who gulps nervously. He gives her a curious look and she tries to come up with a story fast.

"I'm Saiya Kowano, I'm from the Fire Nation colonies," She covers, giving only a half-truth. The siblings and Aang give her a strange look but the general seems pleased with the answer.

"Ahh, nice to meet you Miss Kowano, I'm terribly sorry for what the Fire Nation has done to your land," He apologizes and Saiya nervously laughs,

"Hah, yeah.." She trails off but luckily the general is already guiding them to the entrance. Sokka slows down to hang back with Saiya.

"Why did you lie?" He asks quietly and Saiya's shoulders drop.

"I don't think they'd take kindly to a fully fleshed fire bender from the Fire Nation, but I look Fire Nation so I had to come up with something," She tells him and he just shrugs. The waterbenders escort them in and bend the snow walls around them to let them into the city. As they continue into the city more and more people come out of their homes to look on.

"I'm very sorry, but we aren't very prepared for your arrival," the general apologizes, "we have an area where you can let your bison rest, and while we prepare rooms and food for you, we'd love to give you a tour of the Tribe," he offers and Katara lights up.

"We'd love to see the city!" Katara beams and Saiya can see out of the corner of her eye that Sokka is giving her a soft smile. As a waterbender escorts Appa away another woman walks up to them.

"Hello, it would be my honor to give the Avatar and his companions a tour of the Tribe" She smiles warmly and the four of them nod as she gestures for them to follow her. 

"This place is beautiful!" Katara smiles as a boat passes by with a teen girl with stark white hair. Sokka stops in his tracks and watches her boat flow by.

"Yeah....she is..." He mumbles and Saiya elbows him, laughing. The four continue with their tour of the city, the tour guide giving them small factoids of the Tribe. By the time they're done with the tour it's night time. They're taken up to a clearing where a large table holds a wide spread of food.

"I've never seen this much food in my life!" Saiya jokes but Sokka just stares out over the display in awe. They're guided to sit down across from where the Chief, Arnook, and the general from before are standing. 

"Tonight, we celebrate someone very special, someone, whom many of us believed disappeared from the world until now," Arnook introduces and adds dramatic suspense, "The Avatar!" He announces and the crowd cheers, "With him he has brought his companions, two of which are our brother and sister from the Southern Water Tribe!" At this, Saiya, Katara, and Sokka smile and wave to the cheering people before the girl from before with white hair walks up behind the Chief, "We also celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday. Princess Yue is now of marrying age!" He gestures to his daughter who's even more stunning now that Saiya can get a good look at her.

"Thank you, Father. May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times!" Sokka's eyes widen as he watches them walk around to sit down next to the group. Princess Yue sits down next to Sokka and Saiya could swear she can hear his heartbeat. She elbows him lightly and he swats her arm away, embarrassed. 

"Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform!" Arnook announces as a man, Saiya assumes is Master Pakku, and two other waterbenders put on an amazing show of their talent. Katara and Aang watch in awe as Sokka tries to woo Yue next to him.

"Hi there. Sokka, Southern Water Tribe," Sokka introduces and Saiya cringes to herself. Yue puts on a polite smile and bows to him.

"Very nice to meet you." She says simply and the two sit in silence, Saiya watching the whole thing and getting second-hand embarrassment. 

"So ... uhhh ... you're a princess, huh?" He asks and Saiya resists the urge to facepalm while Yue nods politely, "You know, back in my tribe, I'm kind of like a prince, myself," Saiya physically can't hold back a chuckle as Katara leans over to join the conversation.

"Ha, prince of what?" Katara teases and Saiya laughs harder while Sokka's face takes on a deep shade of red.

"A lot of things! Do you mind? I'm trying to have a conversation here!" He gestures to him and Yue who's laughing lightly now as well.

"My apologies, _Prince_ Sokka," Katara mocks and she and Saiya fake bow to Sokka, laughing together. Sokka tries to brush them off and turns back to Yue.

"So, it looks like I'm going to be in town for a while. I'm thinking ... maybe we could ... do an activity, together," Sokka asks and Saiya laughs again but is cut off as Sokka elbows her in the ribs, _hard_. 

"For a prince, you're really rude," Saiya grumbles which earns her another elbow. 

"Do an activity?" Yue asks and Saiya turns to Katara who's taking just as much amusement as Saiya is with Sokka's flirting attempts. Sokka stumbles and decides instead of continuing the embarrassing conversation he shoves the food in front of him into his mouth. Saiya and Katara laugh together, Yue chuckling lightly with them.

"Very smooth" Katara jokes and Sokka just shoves more food in his mouth. As the night dies down Saiya sees Aang go with the general to Master Pakku. The conversation seems tense as Aang walks away rubbing his neck nervously but Pakku looks satisfied. Saiya watches for another moment as Aang walks back to meet his friends and the general continues talking to Pakku. The general motions to Saiya and the siblings and if Saiya squints enough she can swear she sees their name's on the general's mouth. Pakku doesn't seem to react to Katara or Sokka, but when the general mentions Saiya Pakku's eyebrows shoot up. His eyes snap to Saiya's and she realizes she's staring so she quickly looks away. Out of the corner of her eye's she can still see Pakku's intense gaze and she prays he doesn't blow her cover. Maybe he just doesn't like that she's Fire Nation, even if she lied and said she's a colonial? She hopes that's the answer as the tour guide from earlier escorts them to their rooms. The rooms are within the palace, probably spare rooms that they had lying around if the layer of dust on everything has anything to say. Saiya didn't even know dust could exist in this environment. 

Speaking of the environment, Saiya realizes that she never got Sokka's parka. She was caught up in the excitement of the tour and the feast and then at Sokka's miserable flirting attempts that she almost forgot the cold. Now that she's remembered, however, she feels even colder than before and hurries out of her room to Sokka's. Luckily, it's just down the hall, so she knocks lightly on the door.

"Who is it?" Sokka asks behind the door and Saiya's shocked at the genuine upset in his voice.

"It's Saiya," She answers and at the lack of reply she creaks the door open to find Sokka laying on the bed, wearing only his pants and undershirt, with an arm over his face, "Are you okay?" She asks and Sokka groans loudly.

"I made such a fool out of myself," He grumbles and Saiya knows instantly what he's talking about.

"Well, you might have been silly but I think the Princess found it endearing!" She tries and Sokka groans louder.

"Endearing isn't what I want! I want manly and strong, and, and," Sokka stutters, "I don't know! Not endearing!" He yells, throwing his hands in the arm before letting them fall next to him. Saiya grabs the quilt off of the end of his bed and wraps it around herself before laying on the bed next to him.

"You are strong, Sokka, and manly, but you're also endearing!" Saiya looks at Sokka out of the corner of her eye, "Being endearing or anything 'not manly' isn't bad, you can be endearing and still be strong. Most girls like that!" At this, Sokka perks up.

"Really?" He asks, eyes glittering and Saiya smiles.

"Yeah, really, a guy who cares is a lot more attractive than a guy who only cares about his manliness," Saiya informs and Sokka takes this information for consideration for a moment before glancing at Saiya.

"You didn't come in here to console the romantic in me so what'cha need?" He asks and Saiya lets him change the topic.

"It's absolutely freezing in here, can I have your parka?" She asks and Sokka shoots up.

"Shoot I forgot to give that to you, here," He rummages around his stuff that's set haphazardly on the chair in the corner before pulling out the parka and tossing it to Saiya. She puts it on quickly before a few more pieces of clothing are thrown at her, "here are some socks, too, cause your shoes aren't exactly great for the cold and you shouldn't walk around barefoot," Sokka tells her and she pulls the socks on. The parka's sleeves are a little too long and it comes down to almost the top of her knee, but she's thankful for the warmth. She pulls the blanket around her again and Sokka furrows his eyebrows.

"Are all firebenders this adverse to the cold or?" He asks.

"Well I live at the equator, Sokka, I can't remember the last time it got below 60 degrees there. Plus, I've always been worse with the cold than my brother so I think I might just do worse in the cold even for a firebender," Saiya shrugs and Sokka rubs his chin in thought before shrugging as well. 

"Welp, with Aang and Katara training for however long, I've got all that time to try and woo over Yue so I need all the beauty sleep I can get!" Sokka jokes and Saiya rolls her eyes, "And you're my wingman....wingwoman?" Sokka asks and Saiya cringes, "Okay, you're my wingman so you need to be well-rested and on top of your game tomorrow, as well! Go get some sleep," Sokka tells her and Saiya rolls her eyes even harder but Sokka resorts to pushing her off the bed.

"Goodnight, _prince_ Sokka," Saiya jokes, and Sokka yells at her as she closes the door. She chuckles to herself but as she turns to head back to her room the laugh gets stuck in her throat as she's face to face with Master Pakku. 

"Oh, um, hello," she bows, "your display at the feast was very impressive!" She praises but Pakku just looks at her. There's no malice in his gaze, but there is something that Saiya can't place. 

"Thank you, I don't think we've formally met," he returns her bow, "I'm Pakku, the waterbending master here in the Northern Water Tribes, but I'm also a renowned Pai Sho player," he jokes but the mention of the game peaks Saiya interest. Her brother told her something about Pai Sho, something to do with her dad. What was it? She racks her brain but can't remember for the life of her. Was he good at it? Is it a dog whistle? As she tries to think, she realizes she hasn't responded to Pakku.

"Oh, sorry, it's been a long day," she tries to brush off but that strange look is back on Pakku's face, "My name is Saiya." She finishes.

"Saiya _Kowano_ of the Fire Nation colonies, I've been told," he says, emphasizing her last name, "I heard that the two siblings traveled with the Avatar because one of them wants to practice his waterbending," the pronouns confuses Saiya but her adrenaline from the conversation pushes her thoughts past it, "but why have you joined the Avatar?" Fear floods Saiya as she catches on. Pakku recognizes her last name, her father was a well-known commander for spirit's sake why did she tell them it? She stumbles over her thoughts to come up with a convincing lie.

"I helped the Avatar escape custody, but I was going to get arrested for it so he offered to let me join him so I wouldn't be imprisoned," she lies, though it's not completely off. She left with him to train him in firebending, sure, but also so she wouldn't stay in prison for the rest of her life for helping him. Pakku hums at the answer, seeming unsatisfied.

"What colony are you from?" He asks and Saiya curses herself for never paying attention to any of the colonial units in school.

"Yu Dao." She says, and Pakku's eyes narrow.

"You look very Fire Nation for being from an Earth Kingdom area." Pakku pushes.

"My father is Fire Nation, my mom is Earth Kingdom." Saiya gulps, wanting the conversation to be over.

"And you take your father's last name?" Pakku asks and Saiya can feel herself shaking.

"Yes, I do," Saiya glances at the door to her room, which Pakku is blocking, "I'm sorry to end the conversation but it's been a long day and I really should head to bed, I'm very sorry," Saiya tries to shuffle behind Pakku who gives in and moves to the side. He signs and looks back at her.

"Why don't we have a game of Pai Sho tomorrow, after I help train the Avatar?" Pakku suggests and Saiya stumbles on her thoughts. Rejecting the offer would be suspicious as if this conversation wasn't a red flag for him already. But accepting it meant more grilling from Pakku, and she doesn't know how many more lies she can come up with. 

"Possibly," she leaves the offer up in the air, "goodnight, thank you again for your hospitality." She gives him a curt smile and closes the door. She slides down the door and hears Pakku sigh outside before quiet footsteps fade down the hall. She waits for a moment and weighs her options. Part of her wants to go get Sokka, tell him everything that happened, and have him come up with some plan. But he's likely asleep and the idea of talking to the Princess has given him a childish glee that Saiya hasn't seen on him in too long, something she doesn't want to ruin. She decides to mention it to Katara after her practice, hopefully before Pakku decides to take up that game of Pai Sho. She didn't even mention that she plays, how did he know? She gets up and lays in the bed, hands tightening on the insides of the parka sleeves. 

Saiya wakes up feeling no better than when she went to bed. Pakku's questions still making her heart hammer the second she woke up. The early morning sun makes her feel slightly better as she gets breakfast with Sokka, Aang and Katara having already left to go practice with Pakku. Sokka and Saiya walk around town for a bit as Saiya debates bringing up the confrontation with Pakku. As she open's her mouth to talk Sokka's attention is grabbed by stark white hair passing by in a boat. 

"It's the Princess!" He pulls Saiya behind a building before patting himself down, "quick, how do I look?" Saiya smiles softly at the innocent crush Sokka has and decides solidly that she won't disrupt his fun unless it becomes a problem.

"You look great, go talk to her, I'm gonna go see if Katara and Aang are back," Saiya encourages and Sokka rounds the corner to go talk to the Princess. Saiya giggles at Sokka before heading back to their quarters. They were given a small house of their own, with a lounging area and separate rooms. It's a short walk and when she gets back she sees Katara, but no Aang. 

"Hey, where's Aang, I thought you guys were training together?" Saiya asks and Katara groans as she lays out on the sherpa blanket spread on the ground. 

"Master Pakku won't train me, cause I'm a girl!" Katara yells and Saiya scoffs.

"He's just an all-around prick, huh?" Saiya lays down next to Katara who props herself up at this.

"What did he do to you?" She asks and Saiya glances around before scooting closer to Katara.

"Last night, he was in front of my door and was asking me a bunch of questions," Katara gulps and Saiya nods her head, "Yeah, I think he recognized my dad's last name. He asked me what colony I'm from and why I look Fire Nation and if I took my dad's last name or my mom's. He asked if I would join him for a game of Pai Sho later today!" 

"What did you tell him?" Katara asks.

"I didn't really answer him, just insisted that I needed to get to bed," Saiya shrugs and Katara gulps.

"I would just try to avoid him from now on if I were you," Katara laughs bitterly, "maybe cause we're girls that won't be a problem." Saiya laughs along with her.

"That's such a dumb tradition, there's nothing like that in the Fire Nation!" Saiya shares and Katara rolls her eyes.

"Oh good, the Fire Nation doesn't add sexism to its list of atrocities!" Katara jokes and Saiya playfully punches her in the arm.

"Oh, whatever!" The two girls laugh together for a bit before Saiya's smile drops, "Do you really think Aang will never learn firebending?" Saiya asks and Katara shrugs.

"He seemed pretty set on never doing it again," Katara looks to Saiya and can see the guilt in her eyes from a mile away, "Saiya there's nothing you could have done." 

"I know it's just...." Saiya trails off, looking away from Katara, "What am I doing here if Aang doesn't need a firebending teacher anymore?" Saiya asks herself more than Katara and Katara fully sits up at that.

"Saiya you're our friend, that's why you're here," Katara pulls Saiya in for a hug, "We're not just going to drop you off in the Fire Nation because you don't need to teach Aang anymore!" She pushes back to look at Saiya who's eyes are glossy, "We won't force you to stay, but you.....you're like the sister I always wanted, Saiya, and I know Sokka feels the same. And so does Aang. You don't have to stay, but we all want you here." Saiya laughs wetly and wipes at her eyes.

"Thanks, Katara," Saiya smiles, and the two girls hug tightly.

"Now have I told you about the cute boy rowing the Princess' boat?" Katara gushes, changing the subject which Saiya is appreciative of. The two girls gossip and joke for a while before Aang and Sokka both return. Sokka's attempts with Yue are giving him mixed results. Apparently, she offered to meet him at night but then ran away when he gave her a gift. Aang's still upset that Pakku refuses to teach Katara, to which Sokka suggests that Katara learns from Aang who learns from Pakku. The plan falls through, however, when Pakku catches them as he came to ask Saiya about the Pai Sho game. He denounces Aang as a student and the next morning Aang and Katara go to reason with Pakku and the Chief. 

They stand in front of the council, along with Pakku, Yue, and Arnook as Katara pleads for Aang to be taught. 

"What do you want me to do? Force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?" Arnook asks and Katara sighs.

"Yes," Katara glance to Pakku, then back to Arnook, "please?"

"I suspect he might change his mind, if you swallow your pride and apologize to him," Arnook offers and the four of them tense.

"Fine." Katara spits out and looks to Pakku, who has a smug grin on his face.

"I'm waiting, little girl," Pakku sneers and Saiya clenches her fists. Katara does as well and the ice below her cracks.

"No!" She yells and the ground cracks further, "No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!" She shouts and the two decorative pots next to the council stand shatter and spill. 

"Uhh...Katara?" Aang asks nervously but Katara ignores him.

"I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me." Katara snaps and the council gasps.

"I'm sure she didn't mean that!" Aang tries to mediate.

"Yeah, I think she did," Saiya says as she watches Katara march away.

The fight isn't entirely one-sided. While Pakku does have the upper hand, Katara manages to surprise him with the amount of raw power she has. Saiya, Sokka, and Aang watch on in awe and pride as Katara almost manages to knock Pakku down, but Pakku eventually gets the upper hand and pins Katara in ice. When walking away, Pakku notices Katara's necklace. Turns out, Katara and Sokka's grandmother was Pakku's fiance. While no one is quite sure how Katara being his ex-fiance's granddaughter has changed his sexist philosophies, the four are appreciative of Pakku's change of heart, and Katara and Aang start the next week of their morning's training with Pakku. Sokka continues to swoon over Yue and go to his warrior training as Saiya explores the Tribe and learn about their culture.

Things are finally looking up for them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter after this! I'm combining the two-parter episodes so the siege of the north will be one chapter. I'm thinking about drawing some of the scenes and characters for the chapters, would you guys want the drawings embedded in the story or linked in the notes? That is if I even draw them, lol.  
> Also for the temperature I know China uses Celcius but I'm using Fahrenheit because that's what I know.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are amazing! <3


	10. The Siege of the North: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pakku knew about Saiya's cover story all along, but why didn't he rat her out and what does he know? The gang doesn't have time to figure it out at Zhao and his fleet tries to take siege of the Northern Water Tribe.

As the week passed on Saiya hoped that Pakku forgot about their game of Pai Sho, and eventually she forgot about it herself. That is, until one morning.

"Saiya," Katara shakes Saiya who's sound asleep in a massive pile of blankets, "Saiya come on!" Katara shoves her, hard, having to push through at least 5 blankets. She's a firebender, Katara thinks to herself, can't she warm herself up?!

"Let me sleep, it's stupid early," Saiya slurs, and Katara rolls her eyes.

"Master Pakku asked Aang and me to bring you with us this practice," Katara says and Saiya jumps awake.

"He what?!" She yells and Katara shushes her, "Why does he want me there?!" Saiya demands.

"I don't know! Maybe he'll apologize for being so weird to you when we got here?" Katara says optimistically and Saiya rubs the sleep from her eyes.

"I doubt it, come on I'll get dressed," Saiya unravels herself from the blanket cocoon, "Can you grab me some breakfast?" She asks and Katara nods, heading out to give her privacy and grab said breakfast. A few days ago she managed to buy herself some warmer clothing. While she appreciated Sokka's borrowed parka, he eventually needed it himself and Saiya decided to get some Water Tribe clothes for herself. She has a pair of black fleece leggings and a dark blue turtleneck sweater dress. The dress has a brown belt and white fur trimming, and she made sure it was lined with fleece as well to keep her extra warm. She pulls up some socks over her leggings and then puts on some brown boots. She thought about buying some gloves as well but if she has to fire bend in a pinch she didn't like the idea of setting the things wrapped around her hands on fire. Giving herself a once over in the mirror she twists her hair into two braids on the side of her head, her bangs still stubbornly falling out. As she ties the last braid off, Katara knocks on her door with a breakfast bar and some hot tea which Saiya takes graciously. At the exit is Aang who follows them to the training grounds.

"Any idea what Pakku wants to talk to you about?" He asks and the girls shrug.

"I just hope it's fast, I want to get back to bed," Saiya complains as they reach the grounds where the other students are waiting. Pakku sees them arrive and smiles at them, though his gaze lingers on Saiya.

"I'm glad you could come to watch our training today, Miss Kowano," Pakku greets and Saiya bows slightly before sitting down on the steps. They run through a light warm-up before jumping right into sparring. It was one-on-one matches and every time Katara won her match. Saiya cheered her on quietly from the sides, eventually joined by Aang who showed no interest in dueling his peers. As Katara freezes another student in a wall of ice Aang leans over to Saiya.

"Is this what an Agni Kai is like?" He whispers and if Saiya was drinking something she's sure she would have choked.

"No! What are you on about?" She whisper-yells at Aang who puts his hands up defensively.

"Pupil Aang!" Pakku's voice booms and Saiya and Aang both jump.

"Yes, Master Pakku?" Aang asks innocently.

"Since you're able to have casual discussions, you must have already mastered waterbending," Pakku says and Aang gulps.

"I wouldn't say mastered, but check this out!" Aang waterbends himself into a snowman and while Katara and Saiya laugh, Pakku looks less than impressed. 

"That concludes today's lesson, you are all dismissed," Pakku waves them away and Aang airbends the snow off of him and goes to follow Saiya and Katara who are already heading back to their rooms, "Miss Kowano," Pakku says and the three of them stop in place. Saiya decided to tell Sokka and Aang what happened with Pakku on her first night here as it seemed like he had forgotten or moved on, but evidently, he didn't, "would you still like to take me up on that game of Pai Sho?" He asks and Saiya stopped on the game again. Why is he so insistent on Pai Sho? Ever since he talked to her that first night she had been trying to remember why it was so important. It had something to do with her dad. Is Pakku secretly Fire Nation? No that makes no sense. Maybe it's to do with the White Lotus? 

Saiya nearly slaps herself for how dumb she is. Pakku knew her dad, but not because he was a commander, but because they're both White Lotus members! Liang told her that they talk through Pai Sho tables! She really should have paid more attention to what Liang had told her. She whirls around to look at Pakku, a bright smile on her face. Pakku's looking at her with a fond smile and she assumes that he knows she figured it out.

"I would love to!" She says gleefully and Aang and Katara's jaws drop to the floor.

"Saiya," Katara whispers, "is this a good idea?" She asks and Saiya smiles at her.

"It is, I promise!" Saiya reassures her friends and walks forward to join Pakku, "I'll meet you guys back at the house!" Saiya waves them off and falls into step with Pakku.

"Your father was a very smart man, I'm surprised it took you this long to figure out what I was asking you," Pakku jokes and Saiya slumps her shoulders.

"He died before he could really teach me anything about...ya know...." Saiya's unsure if she can say it out loud and Pakku laughs. 

"Here, this way," He leads Saiya up to a small secluded balcony overlooking the river that flows through the city, "When I was told your name, I had my doubts that it was really Sheng's daughter." Pakku starts and Saiya finds herself startled at hearing her dad's name for the first time in so long, "He was a very smart and brave man, I'm sure you know that. I'm sorry for your loss, and I'm sorry he never got to teach you the ways of the Lotus." Pakku puts a hand kindly on Saiya's shoulder and she looks to the river.

"My brother tried to teach me about the White Lotus but he didn't want to put me in danger and left before he could really teach me," Saiya shares.

"About your brother, Liang," Pakku starts and Saiya's eyes widen. She can feel her heart rate speed up and Pakku puts his hands up apologetically, "No, no! Nothing bad, I promise!" Pakku reassures and Saiya lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding, "He actually tried to use the Lotus' resources to get you, your mother and himself into Ba Sing Se, but he was drafted before he could collect the passports made for you." Pakku pulls out an envelope from his parka pocket and hands it to Saiya, "That doesn't mean he didn't get to Ba Sing Se, however," Pakku alludes and Saiya gasps.

"That's what happened to him?" Saiya asks, "I heard that his battalion went AWOL. So he left for Ba Sing Se?" Pakku nods.

"He was able to sneak into Ba Sing Se along with 3 other members of his battalion, posing as refugees from the mining town they were stationed in. He's been there for almost 6 months now and has been helping other refugees get in and also acts as a relay for the White Lotus on what's happening within the walls." Pakku shares and Saiya's eyes water with relief. Liang's safe! And in Ba Sing Se! She looks at the envelope and then to Pakku who nods. Carefully opening it she finds two passports, one for herself and another for her mother. "I could get a message to him, try to get your mother to the Great Divide, from there you two could meet up and travel through Full Moon Bay into Ba Sing Se. He runs a small tea shop in the lower ring, the three of you could live there." Tears are flowing rapidly from Saiya's eyes as she's at a loss for words.

"I'm...I don't...." She stutters, looking at the passports and then to Pakku, "Why are you doing this?" 

"Your father saved hundreds of people by risking his life to spy on the Fire Lord, he ultimately lost his life to protect the order," Pakku says softly and the memory brings more tears to Saiya's eyes, "Liang has done the same, helping hundreds of refugees find safety in Ba Sing Se and giving the order insight we otherwise wouldn't have. It's the least the White Lotus could do for your family." Saiya stares at the envelopes, tears flowing freely down her face. She stares at them before looking over her shoulder in the direction of the house where her closest friends are staying. Finally, she looks back at Pakku. She can finally place the emotion in his eyes, the same one from the first night they talked. It's grief intermixed with happiness.

"You look so much like Sheng, but you have your mother's eyes," Pakku says and Saiya laughs wetly. She's heard that a million times but somehow hearing it from someone who apparently knew her father so well stings deep, "You don't have to decide if you want to leave your friends for Ba Sing Se just yet, but I'll relay to Liang that you and your mother are alive and well." 

"Thank you," Saiya says, wiping tears from her eyes, "thank you for everything, Master Pakku." As Pakku goes to say something, a black snowflake catches both of their eyes. Looking out to the ocean they can just barely make out the view of a Fire Nation fleet. Pakku wraps Saiya's hand around the envelope and looks at her intently.

'We''ll continue this conversation later, go put the passports somewhere safe," Pakku tells her before running off towards the palace as war drums start to pound. Running into the small home they were staying in, she stuff the envelope into her bag just as Sokka bursts in and runs for his boomerang. 

"The Fire Nation-" Sokka starts as Saiya grabs the small daggers from her bag and secures them to her belt.

"I know, I saw the fleets over the horizon," She runs to the door and holds it open for him, "come on, let's get to the palace." The two sprint to the palace where royalty and guards alike have already congregated, at the front sits Aang with Katara. The groups spot each other and Sokka and Saiya sit down next to the others as Arnook announce the grave news. He gives a rallying speech to his people as asks for volunteers from the men to fight, which Sokka takes up. Out of the corner of her eye, Saiya can see Yue trying and failing to hold back tears. Arnook gives the warrior's mark to each other the men as they head off to their quarters to prepare. After a small debriefing from the general, everyone heads off to their stations, leaving Saiya, Katara, and Aang alone. Aang walks out onto the balcony and Arnook follows him, leaving only Saiya and Katara.

"What can we do?" Saiya asks helplessly.

"We can fight," Katara says, determined, but Saiya pinches the bridge of her nose. 

"Katara nobody knows I'm a firebender! I can't do anything unless they make contact and even then I'm not great hand to hand!" Saiya says and Katara contemplates this for a moment.

"Do what you can, but if you have to, use your bending," Katara stands up and offers a hand to Saiya, "We can explain to the council. You never said you _weren't_ a firebender, you just never mentioned it!" Katara suggests and Saiya chuckles as she takes her hand. They walk outside where Arnook and Aang were talking just as Aang flies off.

"He's going to try and take down as many ships as he can," Arnook tells them, "but he's only one man."

"Kid," Saiya says and the Chief gives her a confused look, "he's a kid." Saiya says sadly just as Yue runs up to them.

"Yue I thought I instructed you to stay inside!" Arnook orders and Yue gives him a stern look.

"Father I can't just sit inside when my people need me!" The Princess argues and Arnook sighs.

"Stay with the Avatar and his friends, please" Arnook begs.

"They're needed, they should be out there fighting! Not babysitting me!" Yue argues back.

"Will you at least let me have Sokka guard you?" Arnook asks and Yue's eyes light up for a moment, making Katara and Saiya smile to each other.

"I can accept that," Yue says, filling her voice with fake sorrow for being watched by Sokka. Arnook nods, satisfied, and heads towards the barracks to find Sokka. As Arnook leaves, Saiya glances out to the sea and notices the lack of firebombs.

"They've stopped firing..." Saiya observes to the other girls, who look out to the water to see only to notice Appa coming into view with an exasperated Aang on his saddle.

"Aang!" They cheer in unison as Aang hops off to stand by them.

"I can't do it ... I can't do it" Aang mumbles and Katara and Saiya share a worried look.

"What happened?" Katara asks.

"I must have taken out a dozen Fire Navy ships, but there's just too many of them. I can't fight them all" Aang says dimly.

"But, you have to. You're the Avatar!" Yue pleads.

"I'm just one kid..." Aang mutters and curls in on himself. Saiya and Katara kneel down and encase him in a hug as he shakes from exhaustion. As the moon comes into full view the four of them sit in silence for a moment as Aang catches his breath. Yue walks over to the railing and looks up at the sky.

"The legends say the moon was the first waterbender," Yue shares and the other three get up to stand with her at look at the moon, "Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves" She tells them and Katara looks at her open palms.

"I've always noticed my waterbending is stronger at night," Katara notes and Saiya hums, wondering if there's a period of time like that for the other benders.

"Our strength comes from the spirit of the moon. Our life comes from the spirit of the ocean. They work together to keep balance." Yue tells them and Aang gasps.

"The spirits!" Aang suddenly perks up, "Maybe I can find them and get their help!" He says and Saiya cocks an eyebrow.

"How can you do that?" Yue asks for Saiya.

"The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the Spirit World! Aang can talk to them!" Katara tells the girls and Saiya's eyebrows shoot up. 

"Since when could he do that!?" She asks, confused.

"Oh, I forget you weren't there for that crazy bear monster spirit." Katara mumbles and Saiya didn't think her eyebrows could raise any higher but she's proven wrong. With her jaw on the floor Yue carries on the conversation for them.

"Maybe they'll give you the wisdom to win this battle!" Yue says hopefully as Aang gets a wicked look in his eyes.

"Or maybe they'll unleash a crazy amazing spirit attack on the Fire Nation!" The three girls give in odd looks and he straights up a bit, "Or wisdom. That's good, too!" 

"The only problem is, last time you got to the Spirit World by accident. How are you going to get there this time?" Katara asks and Yue lights up.

"I have an idea. Follow me" She instructs them as she leads them back inside the palace. They follow her through the palace, getting further and further into the building until they come face to face with a small wooden door.

"So, is this the way to the Spirit World?" Aang asks and Yue chuckles.

"No. You'll have to get there on your own," Yue crawls through the door, followed by the others, "But I can take you to the most spiritual place in the entire North Pole," she tells them as they finally get through the door. On the other side is a large patch of lush grass with a stone structure and a small pond, surrounded by arctic water. Instantly the temperature rises and while it's enough for Katara to get warm, Saiya still feels much colder than she's comfortable with. Aang runs onto the large patch of land and spins around, taking in the view.

"I never thought I'd miss grass this much!" He cheers as he rubs his hands on the grass below him.

"It's so warm here! How is that possible?" Katara asks as Saiya grumbles.

"Not warm enough, if you ask me," She complains and Katara shoots her a look.

"It's the center of all spiritual energy in our land," Yue shares as she and Katara take off their coats. Katara cocks an eyebrow at Saiya when she keeps the heavy sweater dress on over her undershirt.

"No way, it's still freezing by my standards," Saiya shakes her head and the two girls just share a look before shrugging. They all walk over to the pond and finally spot the two koi fish swimming peacefully in circles. Aang looks down at the fish before sitting in a meditative pose in front of the pond. 

"Why is he sitting like that?" Saiya asks.

"He's meditating, trying to cross over into the Spirit World. It takes all his concentration," Katara says and Saiya nods like she understands any of that.

"Is there any way we can help?" Yue asks and Aang turns his head back towards the girls.

"How about some quiet? Come on guys, I can hear every word you're saying!" Aang snaps and the three girls cringe and mumble out apologies. They sit in silence for a few moments before Aang's tattoos slowly start to glow and Saiya feels the same energy she felt in Jeong Jeong's cottage with Roku appeared. Yue and Saiya gasp while Katara looks at Aang with pride.

"Is he okay?" Yue asks and Saiya starts to grab Aang but Katara holds her back. 

"He's crossing into the Spirit World. He'll be fine as long as we don't move his body." She looks pointedly at Saiya who stops in her tracks, "That's his way back to the physical world," She tells them as they watch Aang.

"Maybe we should get some help?" Yue asks and Katara smirks.

"No, he's our friend," Katara looks at Saiya who gives her a small smile, "We're perfectly capable of protecting him." At this, the sound of crunching ground has the girls snap their heads in the sounds direction. There stands Zuko, his face bruised as cut and his clothes soaking wet. 

"Well, aren't you two big girls now," He mocks as Saiya gets into a defensive pose in front of Aang and Katara gasps as she moves in front of Yue.

"No..." Katara mutters as Yue slowly backs up.

"Yes," Zuko says smugly and Saiya rolls her eyes, "Hand him over and I won't have to hurt you." Zuko says, looking at Saiya for a beat too long. She just glares harder at him as he looks almost shocked at the genuine anger in her eyes. Yue runs out of the oasis as Zuko sends a blast at Katara. Saiya attempts to send a strong blast at Zuko but barely comes out with a burst of flames, her hands still very cold. Zuko gives her a curious look before turning his attention back to Katara, sending wave after wave of fire. Katara manages to break the pattern by slamming a stream of water into Zuko, knocking him back multiple paces. 

"I see you've learned a new trick, but I didn't come this far to lose to you" Zuko snarls and Saiya takes a deep breath as she launches her leg out in an arc, blasting Zuko further back. Katara uses the moment to encase Zuko's feet in ice. Katara rises water around him and encircles him with it before freezing it around him. Zuko looks down at the ice surrounding him before glancing back up at Katara.

"You've found a master, haven't you!" He growls out and Katara scoffs, glancing back at Aang. Zuko takes the moment to heat the ice around him, melting himself out.

"Katara!" Saiya yells to get her attention as she punches fire out at Zuko. Katara shoots blasts of water accompanied by Saiya whips of fire, pushing Zuko back more and more. Zuko manages to dodge the blasts just as they get out of sync and take a run for Aang, grabbing him by the collar. Aang's body is knocked over and he's nearly dumped into the koi pond. Saiya dives forward to stabilize Aang's body as Katara sends a large wave at Zuko, which she then turns to ice to encase him. She gives Zuko a quick glance before turning her attention to Aang and Saiya.

"Is he okay?" Katara asks and Saiya glances up at her just as she starts to feel the morning sun warm her back. She looks back down at Aang who looks as if nothing happened.

"He's fine, but he needs to hurr- Katara!" Saiya starts but cuts off to yell out for Katara's attention as Zuko had heated himself out of the ice and sent a blast directly for Katara. Katara looks back a second too late as her water shield barely has time to form before she's violently thrown back. Katara slams into the doorway, knocking her out cold. Saiya stands up and readies her stance, looking on to Zuko. He sends a blast towards her that connects solidly in her chest and pushes her back into the icy water around the land. Gasping at the cold, she pulls herself out as fast as she can, standing in front of Aang in a protective stance.

"What, not gonna try to talk to me?" Zuko taunts but there's a hint of hurt in his voice. Saiya ignores it and sends kicks and punches in his direction. Even with the morning sun warming her, she can feel the arctic water clinging to her clothes, freezing her body. The blasts are mediocre at best and Zuko pauses for a moment to look at her, confused, before his eyes light with understanding.

"The cold..." he mumbles and Saiya narrows her eyes, "you were never good with the cold. Ha, and look at you now, in the freaking North Pole." Zuko jokes and Saiya sends another fire blast at him which he easily dodges. She's been awake since early morning and being freezing cold isn't helping her energy levels.

"Will you just shut up!" She yells as she charges forward, forgoing the firebending and deciding instead to just fist fight Zuko. It catches him off guard and the punch lands directly on his already bruised jaw. Shocked from the pain Zuko sends out a powerful kick, landing right in the center of Saiya's chest. While the kick itself would've already sent her reeling the fire Zuko put behind it sends her flying off the edge of the land and into the waterfall behind the stone archway. Saiya's head slams into the stone wall behind her and while the water keeps it from cracking her skull it's still enough force to knock her out cold. The gushing water pulls her down and into the frigid lake. 

"Saiya!" Zuko calls out and without a second thought dives into the water after her. It's warmer than the water in the tunnels he swam through, but that's not saying much. Saiya's slowly sinking to the bottom, her heavy sweater weighing her down. Zuko pushes himself further down and grabs under her arms before kicking with all the energy has to the edge of the land. He pulls them both above the water, throwing Saiya up over the ledge before dragging himself out. He glances at the Avatar and once he sees that the child is still out of it, kneels next to Saiya and rolls her over on her back. 

There's a singe mark on her dress where he kicked her and a few other small scuffs on her clothing, but otherwise she looks completely fine. He puts one hand behind her head to prop her up and another hovers over her face. 

"Shit..." He mumbles to himself after waiting for a beat and feeling no air on his hand. He shifts his hands to prop her up further and roughly pats her back. At this, Saiya's eyes shoot open and she coughs violently, water gushing out of her mouth. She coughs for a moment before drawing in a shaky breath and passing out again, slumping further into his arms. Zuko freezes for a moment, thinking she died, before he sees a hair on her face be blow out of place by her breath. It's just then that he really takes in how she looks. Her hair having come undone from its braids in the fight, the black pieces cling to her face from the water, making a stark contrast with her light skin. He takes in the little details. The small freckle above her lip, her long dark eyelashes, the way her face looks soft yet has that classic Fire Nation sharpness to it. 

Zuko's face heats up and butterflies flutter in his stomach once he realizes how this looks. He doesn't know how long he's been staring at Saiya, but it's already been too long. He lays her back down on the grass and goes over to the Avatar, tying him up for safe measure. He gives the waterbending girl a quick glance, throwing the Avatar over his shoulder, before glancing back down at Saiya. 

"I'm sorry things turned out this way," He says to no one in particular before leaving the oasis. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I was going to make this one chapter instead of splitting up the parts, but life got in the way :/. My laptop is broken, so I'm currently borrowing my roommate's to finish up this chapter, but I can't use her laptop for very long so that's why this chapter took so long. I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to sit down and write for a solid chunk of time again so I decided to split the chapters up so you guys don't have to wait forever. Not sure when I'll get the chance to write again, so sorry for the cliffhanger! However I hope you guys enjoyed the little bit of Zuko crushing on Saiya :P. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated, thank you for the amazing support this fic is getting! <3


	11. The Siege of the North: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zhao breaks through into the Northern Water Tribe as the gang desperately search for Aang and tries to stop his plan.

"Saiya get up!" Katara shakes Saiya violently, getting deja vu to just that morning. Though this time she's waking her up with much more urgency. As Katara shakes Saiya, Sokka and Yue decent on Appa through the open roof. 

"What happened? Where's Zuko?" Sokka demands, looking around as Katara shakes her head.

"He took Aang. He took him right out from under me!" Katara yells angrily. The commotion manages to get Saiya to wake up blearily. 

"Zuko?" She calls out for him and Katara mistakes it for confusion.

"He left, he ran off with Aang," Katara spits as she helps Saiya lean up. Saiya cries out and her hands shoot up to the head and sternum, "here, lets get up on Appa and then I can heal you." Katara helps Saiya slowly get up, swaying on her feet, as the two girls climb up onto Appa.

"Momo, you stay here in case Aang comes back," Katara instructs as she pulls her legs over the saddle and Sokka flicks the reins. 

"I can't believe I let Zuko get Aang," Saiya grumbles bitterly and Katara puts a hand on her shoulder.

"It's my fault for getting distracted," Katara soothes and Saiya shakes her head.

"It doesn't matter now, we need to focus on getting him back," Saiya says, looking forward over the tundra. 

"Zuko can't have gotten far. We'll find him. Aang's gonna be fine." Sokka hurries Appa on with urgency. 

"Here, let me look at you," Katara says as she encases her hands in water that glows softly. She hovers them over the back of Saiya's head and she winces as she feels Katara's water poke at the bruises, "Sorry," Katara apologies quietly, but ultimately satisfied with her work so she moves her hands down to chest. "This is a pretty nasty bruise, and you're burned a little, what happened?" Katara asks and Saiya lowers her head.

"Firebenders aren't good with the cold, but I think I'm just even worse with it. I fell in the water and it made it really hard to firebend so I decided to just punch Zuko instead," Sokka whoops at that and Yue chuckles as Saiya laughs nervously, "it didn't go great. I hit him right on the bruise on his jaw and it must have pissed him off because he kicked me straight in the chest. _Hard_." As they talk, the storm around them picks up into a full blown blizzard.

"Well, you can have a re-match and Katara can whoop his butt for you once we find him," Sokka says optimistically and Yue smiles.

"Yeah, Prince Zuko can't get too far in this weather!" Yue says but Katara's brow furrows.

"I'm not worried that they'll get away in the blizzard. I'm worried that they won't," She says ominously and the four of them shiver, not just from the cold. Looking behind them, Saiya notices a bright beam of energy coming their way. 

"Look!" She calls out and the others turn to watch as it flies past them and into a small cave lifted from the tundra. 

"That's gotta be Aang! Appa, yip yip!" Katara urges the bison who flies down to the cave. As they descend, they see Aang worming his way away from Zuko who grabs him by the collar. Once he sees the gang on Appa, however, he tosses Aang to the side and readies his stance. He glances at Saiya and has a look of relief paired with a small smile that makes Saiya's stomach flip. She doesn't stop staring at him even when he turns his gaze back to Katara, who has hopped off of Appa, and glares.

"Here for a rematch?" He taunts as Sokka hops off to grab Aang.

"Trust me Zuko, it's not going to be much of a match" Katara says confidently and Saiya laughs. Only Zuko would be thick headed enough to challenge a waterbender on a tundra in a blizzard. Katara launches Zuko sky-high with snow and uses the weigh of the snow to smack him back into the ground, knocking him out in one move.

"Hah, dumbass," Saiya laughs as Sokka manages to untie Aang.

"This is some quality rope!" Sokka observes as Aang airbends himself onto Appa and Saiya leans over to give Sokka a hand up. Katara climbs up with him and Aang grabs the reins and almost takes off but looks back at Zuko. 

"Wait, we can't just leave him here" Aang says with sad eyes, glancing back at the other four on the saddle.

"Umm, yeah, we totally can." Sokka says confidently and Saiya grabs the rope from his hands, sliding down Appa's tail and jogging towards an unconscious Zuko as Aang follows. 

"He'll die, Sokka," Saiya says pleadingly and Sokka shrugs as if to say 'so what', "We'll tie him up, but we can't leave him to die." Sokka rolls his eyes while Yue and Katara look distressed but not completely against saving Zuko. Aang and Saiya manage to lift Zuko up onto Appa's saddle where Saiya finishes tying the restraints and Appa takes off. Saiya props Zuko up against the rim of Appa's saddle but he slumps forward. The sight unnerves Saiya, he's never this still; always looking around or fiddling with the hem of his shirt. She warms her hands and rubs them up and down his arms, drying the wet snow still clinging to his clothes. She feels eyes on her and looks up to see Katara and Sokka giving her strange looks, Yue looking almost annoyed.

Katara and Yue look away once they're caught staring but Sokka hardens his look.

"What are you doing that for?" He asks, annoyed.

"He was my friend, Sokka, I'm not gonna let him freeze." Saiya snaps and Sokka's eyebrows raise minutely before he looks forward once again. She continues drying his clothes and only stops when the world's cast in a deep red color and Yue gasps in pain.

"Are you okay?" Sokka asks and they all lean forward to help Yue if needed.

"I feel faint," She mumbles and Sokka puts his hands on her shoulders to steady her. 

"I feel it, too," Aang says from the front, holding his head, "The Moon Spirit is in trouble," He says gravely and Yue gasps again.

"I owe the Moon Spirit my life," She says quietly and they all look at her, curious.

"What do you mean?" Saiya asks and Yue looks up to the moon, the others following her gaze. Even the moon is a blood red, making Saiya's stomach drop.

"When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they're born, but I was born as if I was asleep, my eyes closed. Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me. That night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white. I opened my eyes and began to cry, and they knew I would live. That's why my mother named me Yue, for the moon." Yue shares and the others listen in awe. They sit in silence, stunned at Yue's story, before Aang lowers Appa to the ground in front of the palace and they sprint in, forgetting about Zuko still unconscious on Appa's saddle. They shuffle through the Spirit Gate quietly and Momo flies to land on Aang's shoulder. In front of them is Zhao, standing over the pond with a sack. Saiya looks down and sees the black koi swimming violently and notices whatever is in the sack is moving and Saiya can only assume the other koi fish is in the bag. 

"Don't bother," Zhao taunts as he lifts the sack over his hand, threatening to light it on fire. Yue and Aang gasp at the motion.

"Zhao, don't!" Aang begs, surrendering. Saiya, Katara, and Sokka follow suit.

"It's my destiny, to destroy the moon and the Water Tribe!" Zhao announces and the siblings and Yue gasp while Saiya glares at Zhao. Aang walks forward a few steps.

"Destroying the moon won't hurt just the Water Tribe, it will hurt everyone, including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world!" Aang pleads and the snapping of a twig turns their attention to the left of them. There stands Iroh, who's glare at Zhao is intimidating enough to make Saiya shiver. 

"He's right, Zhao!" Iroh yells and the five of them gasp at hearing Iroh's alignment with them. Saiya knew he was always much kinder than his brother, especially after the death of his son, but she never excepted him to show agreement with the Avatar. 

"General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" Zhao mocks, lowering his hand from underneath the sack and Saiya hears Yue let out a breath.

"I'm no traitor, Zhao, the Fire Nation needs the moon, too; we all depend on the balance," The words sound like Liang and her father, making Saiya furrow her brows at Iroh, "Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you ten-fold. Let it go, now!" Iroh threatens and they all gasp at the sheer anger behind the threat. Zhao seems to take the threat seriously and slowly releases the fish back into the pond. He stands up, his arms in surrender, before slicing his hand down in a fire blade and striking the fish. They all yell out, Yue in pain and clutching her head, as Iroh charges forward. The fight is a blur and no one spots Zhao as he slips out the gate. Iroh manages to knock down all the remaining soldiers single handedly as the others watch on. Aang looks up to the moon just as it fades from their vision and the word turns a dingy grey color. Saiya feels something fill the air and while she can't quite place it, it makes her heart hammer in fear. Yue run towards the pond and looks at the dead fish in sorrow, the others kneeling besides her. 

"There's no hope now, it's over," Yue morns and Aang scowls down at the pond.

"No, it's not," Aang's voice, follow by echos of hundreds, fills the small oasis as he gets up and stands in the middle of the pond. He stands there for a moment before his eyes shoot open, the other fish circling him, and his tattoos and eyes glow brilliantly. He drops into the water and light fills the oasis. Suddenly Aang rises out of the pond, encased in water and in the Avatar State with the power of the ocean spirit fish. He takes on the form of a giant koi fish and the water-monster-spirit leaves the oasis; a bright light following him. After watching Aang leave, they all turn back to the dead fish in the pond. Saiya glances around and sees that everything is a dull grey color. Her dress, Katara's eyes, the green grass, everything is a muted version of what it once was. Except Yue's eyes. 

"Yue," Saiya asks, "you said you were touch by the Moon Spirit? Do you think there is anything you can do?" Yue furrows her eyebrows but Iroh looks at her in awe.

"You were touch by the Moon Spirit?" He asks and Yue nods, "Some of it's life lives within you." He says sagely and Yue thinks for a moment.

"It gave me life..." She says, "Maybe I can give it back." Sokka straights up at this.

"No! You don't have to do that" He begs.

"It's my duty, Sokka," Yue says softly and Sokka grasps her hands. Suddenly the rest of them feel like they're intruding on the moment and lean back. 

"I won't let you, I promised your father I would protect you," Sokka says and Yue looks back down to the dead fish floating in the water.

"I have to do this..." She says quietly as she lightly touches the dead fish. A soft glow encompasses both the fish and Yue and she slumps over in Sokka's arms. Katara and Saiya gasp and their eyes well as Iroh closes his eyes and sighs mournfully. 

"NO!" Sokka cries, feeling her neck for a pulse but finding nothing, "she gone.....She gone." He mutters to himself and then to the others. Yue's body fades from vision as the pond glows and the koi springs back to life. In front of Sokka an apparition of Yue forms in ethereal beauty and she cups Sokka's face. 

"Goodbye, Sokka," they kiss tenderly and a few tears roll down their faces, "I'll always be with you," She tells him as her figure floats in the air and then dissipates. They watch in awe at the moon, Sokka letting a few quiet tears slip down his face before standing up. 

"We should find Aang," He says with a slight waver to his voice before leaving the oasis. Katara follows after him quickly, leaving Iroh and Saiya to watch the kois swim peacefully once more as day breaks. They sit in silence watching the fish swim before Saiya speaks. 

"We saved him from the tundra," She says and she knows Iroh knows who she's talking about, "we left him on the bison's saddle, but I don't doubt that he's escaped already." Iroh puts a comforting hand on her shoulder and she turns to look at him. 

"Thank you," He says gratefully and Saiya gives him a sad smile. "He miss you. He doesn't say it, but I can tell." Saiya scoffs a little at that.

"He choose his path." She says bitterly but Iroh can hear the deep grief behind the words, "I hoped that maybe," She starts but shakes her head, "I don't know what I hoped for. Just not...this." Iroh pats her shoulder kindly.

"Don't loose hold of that hope," Iroh says sagely before standing up, "We must leave, while we still have the cover of darkness. It was nice talking to you after so long." Saiya stands up with him and looks at him sadly as they exit the oasis together, parting ways at the exit of the palace. Ahead of her on one of the barrier walls she sees Aang standing with Katara, Sokka walking up next to them. She takes the short walk to join them and Katara pulls her in for a side hug as they watch the sun rise together.

She would try to hold on to her hope for the future, even if grip was slipping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's book 1 done! Plus a kind of sort of title drop lol. This has been so much fun to write so thank you all for the love and support this story got. Let me know what you thought in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to the series to get updates for the whole series, as this part will now be considered completed. I'm super excited for book 2 as there's a larger canon divergence (nothing to the plot but with Saiya) that I'm excited to write. 
> 
> Kudos and comments are always loved, thank you for reading! <3


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